There wasn’t a person on the sand at the Silver Strand state beach last November 20 who didn’t hope that the doctors were wrong.

In the rising wind, against a dramatic backdrop of sea and blazing sunset Brett Fafard and Laura Kemp were married.

It was a storybook wedding pulled together only two weeks earlier and made possible by the kindness of friends, family, and area businesses who donated everything needed from flowers, food, photography, even the bride’s gown.

The reason for the hurry was this: that Fafard’s doctors had given him six weeks to live. The BYU student was at the end of a grueling two-year fight against testicular cancer. In spite of aggressive treatment the cancer continued to spread and by October 2010 his condition was deteriorating.

“He had a seizure,” Kemp had said, “and then he had another one.” The two had talked about getting married earlier. Now, it was time to get the ball rolling.

“And depending on how much time we did have,” Kemp said in the days following the wedding, “I didn’t want to spend it apart.”

On that day only the groom’s bald head gave any indication of his condition. Fafard was otherwise robust and full of delight and having fun posing with his bride in front of the cameras. “They were shaking their heads after the wedding,” says Fafard’s sister, Dominique Molina. “All of the generosity was so meaningful for them.”

But in the end, the doctors were right.

Mr. Fafard passed away December 29 at his sister’s home in Utah with his wife Laura by his side. He was 24. Fafard was laid to rest in the family home town of Vacaville, California in a coffin that was hand-made by his father.

Dominique Molina is Fafard’s sister. She lives in Chula Vista and was instrumental in pulling off the last minute wedding.

“Grief? It comes and goes in waves,” she says. “Sometimes I can accept it. Other times, I say this can’t be real. I just want to pick up the phone and call him.”

She says that Brett is her second - youngest brother. “I was with him right before he died. We got a chance to say our goodbyes. It was obvious during that last weekend that he was in the process of dying,” she says. “He was struggling to breathe. But, he was still laughing and joking.”

Laura Fafard was unavailable for comment at the time of writing but Molina says, “she’s doing remarkably well. She’s been a rock through this.”

Molina says that a scholarship has been set up in Fafard’s name. It is perhaps ironic that Fafard had worked as a counselor at Camp Kesam, a retreat for children of cancer patients. The family requests that any donations be directed to campkesem.org. “From his hospital bed,” she says, “he was still fundraising for Camp Kesem.”