• Haley and Josh Louvelle were on a flight to Jamaica for their honeymoon when Haley slipped a message to the flight attendant
• The message asked her to announce that Josh, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2020, is now cancer-free
• Josh was surprised by the announcement, to which the plane responded with thunderous applause
As she boarded her honeymoon flight to Jamaica on January 6, Haley Louvelle handed a flight attendant a note.
“Hi!!! I wanted to see if there was any chance you could read this over the speaker?” the note read. “Maybe near the start of the flight so I can get my phone ready to record video and make sure none of us have our headphones on yet? Thanks!!!”
The Toronto resident, 22, tells PEOPLE that the piece of paper she printed contained a note she wrote for her husband Josh Louvelle, 24, who was diagnosed with stage 4 thymoma in June 2020. Thymoma is a rare form of cancer that forms in the cells that line the outer surface of the thymus, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Haley, a nursing student, said she sat nervously as she waited for the flight attendant to make an announcement.
“My heart was pounding waiting for the flight attendant to read the message, and I was anxiously holding my phone waiting to press record,” she says. Then the announcement started.
“Hello everyone! I have a little announcement to share with everyone. I wanted to give a special welcome to a guest on today’s flight,” the flight attendant said over the intercom before reading Haley’s message.
“A young man on this plane named Josh was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in June 2020. He has since had chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove his entire right lung, thymus gland, heart lining and part of his diaphragm,” she continued.
She added: “He was on life support twice and was in and out of hospital for years. He fought for his life and is now cancer free and on his honeymoon to Jamaica! Please join me in giving Josh the biggest round of applause! ”
Haley Louvelle handed a message to a flight attendant during boarding.
Haley Louvelle
Since his diagnosis, the high school sweethearts — who got engaged the day after Josh’s diagnosis — have had to postpone their honeymoon three times. Haley adds that after her husband’s first chemotherapy in July 2020, he fell into a myasthenia gravis crisis, which led to an 11-day stay in the ICU, where he was intubated and on a ventilator.
“We were supposed to go two days after our July 2022 wedding, but my husband experienced a flare-up of his autoimmune disease and we had to cancel the trip,” says Haley. She added that they rebooked their trip six months later but “he was still not well enough to go.” so the couple’s honeymoon was “long overdue”.
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Haley captured her husband’s reaction on video and shared it on her TikTok account.
“My husband was so shocked and surprised when he heard the announcement,” she says. After the video, he asked me how I did it without him realizing.
Haley adds, “I was emotional and so proud when she read the message.”
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Haley and Josh Louvelle honeymooning in Jamaica in January 2024.
Haley Louvelle
The aspiring nurse says she always tells people going through similar situations that “hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” Sharing her video on TikTok, she tries to remind people that bad times will pass.
“He returned to work in April 2023 and now he is doing great,” she adds about her husband.
“Josh is a living example that miracles can happen, he overcame a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. Even in the hardest times you always have to keep hope,” she says.
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Source: HIS Education