Having had their wedding day cancelled by the pandemic, Georgie and John Gillbanks couldn’t wait to finally tie the knot.
The Wigan couple were initially meant to wed back in 2020 but had their big day postponed to the following year.
But devastation was waiting for them just around the corner – seeing the pair cancel their ceremony once more after receiving some news that would change their lives forever.
The couple’s daughter Nyla was just five-years-old when Georgie and John noticed bruises and rashes on her body. Concerned, they took her to a doctor and asked to have her bloods taken.
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That evening, the couple received a call saying Nyla’s platelets were dangerously low and she needed to go to hospital urgently. Platelets are tiny blood cells that help the body form clots to stop bleeding.
Following her arrival at hospital, the youngster was initially diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia, a type of platelet disorder where the blood does not clot as it should.
But when she woke the following morning with blood all over her gums, mum Georgie, 31, knew something was seriously wrong and rushed her to Manchester Children’s Hospital.
“When I got there, the doctor’s words were, ‘She looks like a child with leukaemia,’ and I just fell to pieces,” the mum, who also has daughter Daisy, 11, told the Manchester Evening News.
“During that time, we just thought the worst, and the thought that we may lose our gorgeous baby girl just broke me.
“I remember crying to the nurse and begging her to tell me they’d got it wrong. I just couldn't see how we were going to get through it. Look back, we as a family were completely broken, but we had to put on a brave face for Nyla and Daisy.”
Following numerous blood tests, a bone marrow transfusion and a blood transfusion, Nyla was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a condition that occurs when the body stops producing enough new blood cells.
Nyla’s only chance of beating the condition was a bone marrow transplant which involved chemotherapy.
“They didn't know whether she had leukaemia or aplastic anaemia,” Georgie, who lives in the Astley area of Wigan, continued. “She then got the diagnosis of the aplastic anaemia and we were just devastated.
“I remember asking [the doctor] if she would lose her hair and he said yes. I broke down again.
“Nyla had overheard the conversation and for the next two days she asked me why she was going to lose her hair.
“Explaining that to a five-year-old with the most gorgeous brown hair was gut-wrenching. But we made it into a positive experience and told her she could do anything she wanted to her hair before she lost it.
“She decided she wanted to dye it and so we did. We dyed the ends of her hair pink and she loved it.”
From November 2020 to her transplant in February 2021, Nyla was kept alive by having several platelet transfusions a week and blood transfusions every 14 days.
In January 2021, the family discovered a perfect donor had been found and Nyla was scheduled for her transplant on February 9.
“The transplant went so well,” retail manager Georgie added. “She reacted better than we ever could’ve imagined to losing her hair. It showed us how resilient children are.
“Nyla is now two years on from her transplant and completely cured. We honestly feel so grateful for every single day that she is now living life as a normal seven-year-old girl.”
The family’s dramatic story has featured in a TV show about weddings set in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire next week.
Wedding Valley, which began airing on April 12, hones in on weddings in the Lancashire beauty spot by following couples on their journey to their big day.
The 10-part series for UKTV’s W channel will also join Ribble Valley business owners as they work on some of the 1,500 weddings that took place in Ribble Valley in 2022.
The picturesque area has become a hotspot for weddings over the years, and with its stunning landscapes and rolling green hills, it’s easy to understand why.
Its cluster of wedding venues means the district has also attracted a thriving community of cake makers, florists, dress shops and stylists over the last few decades – with this year being their busiest yet.
When Georgie and John booked their third and final ceremony for June 5, 2022, they were encouraged to take part in the show by their florist.
“They filmed the whole day,” Georgie added.
“John surprised me on the day with two alpacas that showed up. We love animals, I have a horse, three rabbits and a cat, so for me it was just really nice.
“We had a photographer and a videographer but the strangest bit was in the morning [of the wedding]. We were having breakfast and they walked in with a camera.
“My bridesmaids were a bit like, ‘Woah!’, it did throw us off a bit and I think it was really awkward. We were just talking and the camera was in our face.”
Over ten episodes, the series takes viewers through a typical week in peak wedding season, and all the passion, drama and hard work that goes into making each couple's wedding dreams a reality.
Wedding Valley airs on UKTV on Wednesday nights at 9pm. Georgie and John's story, which aired on April 26, can be viewed on catch up here.
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