Devoted Tennessee son Scooter shared an emotional last dance with his dying mum Terri on his wedding day, fulfilling a cherished dream for her. Scooter brought Terri onto the dancefloor in front of 150 guests, and as she wasn’t able to stand, he held her up so they could share the dance together on his big day.
In 2019 Terri was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and while she was able to get by for the following three years, her health was failing by the time of her son’s wedding. However, having managed to make it to the event, Scooter just had to fulfil her dream to dance with him on his wedding day. You can see the video below.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as the guests watched on while mother and son enjoyed the special moment together. Scooter put his head on his mother’s shoulder and made sure to hold on tight to her, as she was no longer able to support her own weight due to the advanced progress of the degenerative disease.
Scooter struggled to control his emotions, although he managed to hold it together for the dance before carefully lowering his mother to her chair. Knowing that they’ll be able to cherish the memory forever no doubt made the difficult performance worth it for the pair. The audience were clearly touched and applauded after the dance. Scooter and Terri aren’t the only ones who had this idea, as Zak Poirier also danced with his mother Kathy (who has ALS) at his wedding, which you can see below.
Scooter later shared the video of the beautiful dance to Facebook. It subsequently went viral, and after being shared on YouTube their dance has been viewed 7.1 million times on the platform. Unfortunately Terri passed away just ten days after the ceremony, surrounded by friends and family.
The video made a big impact on viewers at home, who added comments such as “In the first moments her baby boy was born she held him with so much love and protection and care, and in the moments where she could no longer stand, her baby boy held his momma and will hold her forever,” and “This moved me to tears, she sure raised an amazing man! Rest in the sweetest peace Terri. My heart goes out to all her family and friends.”
ALS is also known as motor neurone disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a rare and neurodegenerative disease that has no known cure. Over time, the terminal disease causes the loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles and even basic tasks become insurmountable. The life expectancy of people with ALS is typically two to four years from the onset of the disease, so Terri did well to make it to her son’s big day.