Since Ally Nimrichter was born, her father, Kory Bryant, had always been her biggest fan.
Ally’s father supported her athletic endeavors and never missed any of her games. When Ally, 20, grew older and came back from college, she and Kory would stay up late, talking about life. “We became very close,” she said.
When Ally introduced Taylor, her boyfriend, to Kory, her father couldn’t have been more accepting. Later, when Taylor asked Ally to marry him, Kory joyfully gave them his blessing.
Ally and Taylor were excited to get married and planned their wedding for July. However, all these plans changed on April 17 when Ally got a phone call about her dad.
Ally’s brother explained that their father had suffered a brain bleed and likely wouldn’t survive.
“There was no way they could do surgery or do anything at all to stop the bleed,” Ally shared.
“The last call I received from Parker [brother] was him telling me that I needed to get home— that dad wouldn’t make it.”
Taylor and Ally rushed to the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital.
On the way there, Ally decided that if her father wasn’t going to make it, she was going to get married in his hospital room before he passed away.
“My dad has been there for me since I was born and he loved my husband,” Ally recalled.
“He made everything happen in my life.”
“He was going to walk me down the aisle, and I was going to have a father-daughter dance with him.”
When Ally and Taylor got confirmation from doctors that Kory’s bleed would take him soon, they rushed to get a marriage license approved.
Once everything was organized, the bride, groom, and roughly 50 friends and relatives gathered in the hospital room to say goodbye to Kory and watch his daughter get married.
Upon hearing their plan, the nurses brought cake and flowers and even decorated Kory’s room. “I was amazed at what everyone had done,” Ally said. “Dad would have wanted it this way.”
“I was looking at my husband and, of course, I had tears rolling down my eyes, and I knew in every part of me that I was doing it right— that I needed to do that for my dad and that he would be proud of me for doing it.”
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It was very fast and crazy.”
“I wanted him there,” she told PEOPLE.
“It was very, very important for me to have him there and present.”
“It was important for me to be able to tell him that I loved him, and tell him the news.”
Four days after Ally’s wedding, her father passed away.
“It’s hard,” she said. “Dad was the one person I could stay up with until two in the morning talking about anything and he would give me advice. He would give Taylor advice and now we don’t have that.”
“He was very loving, incredibly loving, and he helped everyone.”
“I wish I could just have one more hug, or one more ‘I love you’, or to just hear him laugh and see him smile,” she shares. “I sure do miss and love you daddy!”
“I will forever have a sweet angel watching over me.”
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