He gets married after he has survived cancer three times | After Our First

He gets married after he has survived cancer three times | After Our First

When Joey Renick went to a camp for kids with cancer as a 10-year-old, he couldn't have imagined the impact it would have on his life.

Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) as a three-year-old, he attended the Camp His Kids – a camp for cancer sufferers and their siblings – with his sister Carol Anne.

There he met Caylee Miller, who was with Carol Anne in the siblings group.

Caylee, also 10 at the time, was there with her sister Taylor, who had been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer called Hemangiopericytoma

Six years later, when Taylor died from her illness in 2008, Joey helped Caylee through the tough time.

The pair stayed in touch through phone and texts but "lived too far away to date

But after Joey's cancer returned in 2011, just before his 18th birthday, he decided it was time to ask Caylee out on their first date

We probably were in Starbucks talking for hours about topics neither of us really ever talked about with anyone else,” Joey recalled.

We only stopped talking when the workers told us they were closing the store for the night. I know this will sound cliche but I honestly knew I loved her after our first date together.

I had never in my life felt so comfortable talking to someone and felt the way I do around her.”

For their first year of dating Caylee visited him in hospital but says seeing sister Taylor through her illness prepared her for what was to come with Joey.

For a normal person it might have been too much, but for me I was familiar so it didn’t feel like too much,” she told People Magazine.

However, she tells ABC News it wasn't always easy as it brought back a lot of memories of her beloved sister's battle.

Joey was being treated at the same hospital my sister was treated at and many of the doctors and nurses were the same," she said.



"It brought back a lot of memories of the time Taylor was sick

In November 2015, Joey went into remission and proposed to Caylee as they recreated their first date to Starbucks.

However, his cancer returned for a third time amid the wedding planning, putting everything on hold so Joey could get the bone marrow transplant he needed, which he received from his sister in June 2016



The couple, now both aged 23 years, finally said I do” in an intimate ceremony in May.

And the wedding was made extra special as they tied the knot on Seacrest Beach, Florida - the same place Caylee's family last holidayed with Taylor.



The newlyweds are determined to remain positive and focus on the now, despite Joey's recent relapse and the fact Joey’s nephew (Carol Anne’s four-year-old son) Thomas has recently been diagnosed with ALL also.



Each day is a gift and that’s what I focus on,Caylee said.

The pair are now sharing their story to promote Kellsie's Hope, a charity granting wishes to those dealing with a cancer relapse and who helped the couple with their dream wedding.

They also want to give other cancer-stricken families hope, saying their tale is a reminder that out of hard time, good things can come