Jen Bulik-Lang, the California bride who persevered in the face of terminal lung cancer to get a surprise dream wedding in July, died at 35 years old on Thursday.
Bulik-Lang’s story inspired people across the world in July when a group of strangers helped give her a dream wedding to Jeff Lang, her boyfriend of six years, after she was told she had less than six months to live. On Thursday, she died at 8 a.m. in her home with her husband by her side.
“It was beautiful and very peaceful,’’ her husband told TODAY, adding that Jen will always be with him.
Video: Woman told she has six months to live gets married
Bulik-Lang had received five months of treatment for stage IV lung cancer before being informed by her doctors in July that even with continued treatment, she would most likely not live another six months. She and Lang decided to get married, and initially planned to have a small, informal wedding in her parents’ backyard. However, a group of strangers in the Bay Area who heard her story decided to pitch in and give her a dream wedding.
Thirty local vendors donated $50,000 worth of goods and services, and volunteer wedding planner Erica Ota helped put it all together. Also, more than 1,000 people donated $57,000 to help pay for a honeymoon and her medical expenses following the wedding.
“"We just showed up and did our thing, and it just gets more and more magical with every moment,’’ Bulik-Lang told NBC Bay Area following her wedding.