US bride saves a dance for man who saved her from cancer

A US bride has shared a dance at her wedding with the stranger who saved her life.

New bride Greta Hokanson, 24, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia on September 1, 2006.

Her best chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant.

“Of course I was terrified at first,” she told ABC News.

“My two older sisters were immediately tested to see if they were a match and they weren't.

“My parents were also tested and they weren’t either. The national registry was then searched, and we learned there was a 44-year-old man from Arkansas who was a perfect match.”

Danny Daniels, Ms Hokanson’s perfect match, was serving in the Air Force National Guard at the time, and stationed only seven hours away in South Dakota.

Mr Daniels had donated his bone marrow at a drive after one of his military friends was diagnosed with cancer.

He got the call about Ms Hokanson ten years later and agreed to allow his bone marrow be used to treat her.

Ms Hokanson underwent a successful bone marrow transplant and recovered from her cancer.

One year later the pair agreed to meet.

“She said, ‘Thank you. There's no way that I can ever repay you for this’,” Mr Daniels said.

“My comment to her was, ‘There’s no repayment necessary. There are no thankyous necessary. I just want you to have as normal life as possible’.”

Facebook helped the pair stay in touch and on October 10 Mr Daniels attended Ms Hokanson’s wedding as a special guest.

“I knew I wanted to somehow celebrate and honour what he did for me and when speaking with the DJ, he suggested a dance,” Ms Hokanson said.

“I immediately fell in love with the idea. I then asked Danny, who replied ‘I would be honoured’.”

The pair danced together to ‘Angels Among Us’ by Alabama in front of 260 guests.

“She is a very sweet person and I’m so honoured that she was the one that received my bone marrow,” Mr Daniels said.

“She’s a great young lady and she’s making the best of her life. To be honoured with the dance was very special to me.”

Ms Hokanson said she was overcome with emotion during the dance, which was photographed by Phodot Photography.

“(I’m) so unbelievably grateful for the gift of life he gave me. There is nothing better. He is a real life hero, doing a completely selfless act for me, a stranger.”