Dying dad ‘walks’ daughter down the aisle

Scott Nagy promised his daughter, Sarah, that he'd walk her down the aisle.

This past Saturday, the terminally ill Ohio man did just that — thanks to a volunteer team of medical professionals who were determined to help him keep his word.

"It was a promise I made in March, to walk her down the aisle," Nagy tells the Plain Dealer. "She's my princess. This is my definition of walking down the aisle."

Diagnosed with urethral cancer last November, 56-year-old Nagy has been in intensive care at University Hospitals Cancer Center since August.

Sarah Nagy, 24, and her fiancé, Angelo Salvatore, pushed ahead the wedding date, initially scheduled for next year, to ensure Nagy would be able to make it.

After learning of Nagy's determination to walk his daughter down the aisle, nurse practitioner Jacky Uljanic helped him build up his strength and organize transportation, logistics and on-site medical support so he'd be able to attend his daughter's wedding.

Also see: Paralyzed bride fulfills her dream of walking down the aisle

Nagy's barber even came to the hospital to trim the father of the bride's hair and beard.

"The planning had to be pretty strategic," Uljanic tells NBC News. "It took probably about three weeks to get everything together."

On Saturday, Nagy arrived at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Strongsville, Ohio, via an ambulance donated by Physicians Medical Transport. His tuxedo covered up his monitor cords and tracheal tube. His hospital gurney's sheets matched the wedding colours.

"When I walked out and saw him there, I couldn't think. I couldn't focus," Sarah Nagy tells ABCNews.com. "There was my dad sitting there in his tuxedo, looking amazing and wondering why I was crying."

After telling his daughter not to streak her makeup — "This should be a happy day," hesaid her — Nagy "walked" Sarah down the aisle.

"When we walked in with him at the church there were tissues to faces," Uljanic recalls. "The entire congregation started clapping."

"He was a big part of this. He was at the bridal shower. He went shopping for her dress. There was no way he was not going to finish this out," Nagy's wife, Jean, tells the Plain Dealer.

Also see: Dying father sees 10-year-old daughter 'wed' in symbolic ceremony

Nagy stayed for the entire ceremony and posed for photos with family before returning to his hospital room. He gave a speech at the reception via Skype.

"He wanted to make sure everyone had enough to drink and enough to eat and dance as much as they could – to have a good time," Jean tells NBC News, remembering her husband's speech.

"There are no guarantees in life," Nagy said at the hospital. "This is a bonus."

"We're just a family from Brunswick. We're not anyone special," Sarah Nagy tells ABCNews.com. "These people knew his goal was to make it to my wedding and obviously we want him around forever, but they knew it was important to him. To have that happen for us was just incredible."

The Nagy family is hoping to set up two fundraising pages in the near future. One will help with Nagy's medical expenses, and the other will help other terminally ill people see their last wishes fulfilled.