Daughter Convinces Parents with Cancer to Renew Vows. Dad Cries When She Wears Mom’s Original Dress for Dance (Exclusive)

“It was my favorite part of the whole day, and it had nothing to do with me,” Chrissy Stewart tells PEOPLE of the emotional daddy-daughter dance

• Just before their 23rd wedding anniversary, Matt and Chrissy Stewart renewed their wedding vows with the help of Wish Upon a Wedding
• The couple both have cancer and don’t know if they’ll live to see their three children get married
• One particularly emotional moment came as Maddy, their 15-year-old daughter, danced with her dad in her mom’s original wedding dress

When Chrissy and Matt Stewart renewed their vows in February, there weren’t enough napkins to catch their guests’ tears during his dance with their 15-year-old daughter. “Everyone was crying,” says Matt, 50, who also welled up during the daddy-daughter dance.

“It was my favorite part of the whole day, and it had nothing to do with me,” remembers Chrissy, 46, of the 50-person wedding in Kansas City that was arranged by Wish Upon a Wedding.

The rom, was “a light in the darkness” for the parents of three, who both have cancer and fear they won’t live to see their daughter or her brothers, Jackson, 20, and Alex, 18, get married.

“This was our chance to have a wedding experience with our family, and especially with my daughter,” says Chrissy, who watched as by wearing her dress from their wedding in 2002 for the memorable dance floor turn.

Helping her daughter put on a veil and her grandmother’s pearls was a special moment for Chrissy too — and the dress? It was a perfect fit.

Matt was hesitant about the vow renewal at first. “Our marriage is really strong,” Matt jokingly asked his wife. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

It was Maddy who convinced her parents the ceremony was what their family needed — and Matt says the “incredible” day turned out to be one of the best of their lives. “When people want to help, when they want to give you something, the best thing you can do is say yes,” he shares.

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The couple first met in 1999. At the time, Chrissy was coming out of a breakup, and Matt was the brother of her best friend. They met in Sioux City, Iowa, when Matt was both reporting on and performing in the Neil Simon play “Barefoot in the Park.”

Chrissy and Matt felt an immediate connection. They had their first date the following weekend and have “been together ever since,” says Matt. 

The couple married three years later and for more than two decades, they stayed busy raising their three kids and working. Matt is an Emmy-winning anchor and Chrissy is a clinical dietician for a children’s hospital in Kansas City. She was actually working with cancer patients in 2021 when she was diagnosed with an aggressive, rare form of cancer called angiosarcoma, which caused a “watermelon-sized” tumor in her abdomen.

While the news was devastating, Chrissy was able to manage her diagnosis through regular chemotherapy and now goes once a month. Although she had a less than 5% chance of remaining cancer-free, she took solace in the fact that Matt would be there for their children.

“We went into this thing thinking, ‘Okay, well if Chrissy passes, I’m here,’” says Matt. “I’m going to take care of the kids, I’m going to be at their weddings. I’m going to be there with the grandkids.”

The plan imploded when Matt was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in July 2024. While doctors were able to remove the tumor they found in his brain, he is still receiving chemotherapy to treat the tumors in his lungs.

“When I married Chrissy the first time, I said ‘’till death do us part,” says Matt. “But I was hoping that would be in our eighties, not in our forties.” 

Despite their grim diagnoses, the couple has done everything they can to stay healthy. 

“We’re fighting this thing, and we’re living life, and they see that,” says Chrissy of raising her children while undergoing chemotherapy.

She hopes to live long enough to see Maddy graduate high school and go to college. They’ve also received a surge of support from their community, who know the couple’s story because of Matt’s public-facing work. 

That groundswell of love was apparent at the ceremony on Feb. 23. The ceremony was organized bYand and captured by photographer. They were among the more than 20 vendors who donated their services for free. 

“The generosity of the wedding industry in this country blows my mind every day,” says Lacey Wicksall, executive director of Wish Upon a Wedding, which has organized more than 275 weddings and vow renewals for couples facing “life-altering health circumstances” since 2009. 

While Matt and Chrissy’s celebration was in part motivated by their fierce love for their children, it was also an important chapter in their love story.

Matt says he hopes to emulate his wife’s “dignity” and “class,” which he’s witnessed as she’s tackled health issues and every other obstacle life has dealt her. Chrissy also relies on her husband for strength.

“He makes me feel so very seen and loved, so I can be my true self,” says Chrissy, who adds, “Together, we can conquer anything.”