A Wedding Theme for Courageous Caitie's Funeral

Photo from Courageous Caitie/Facebook

Parents of Caitie Lucas, known to many as “Courageous Caitie,” chose to do a wedding-theme for the funeral of their 3-year-old daughter who passed away last Thursday, March 31 from a rare blood disease.

Feliz and Jayjay Lucas asked everyone who attended the funeral, which took place last Sunday, April 3, at Arlington Memorial, to wear formal attire for “the wedding of Caitlin to Jesus.” They wanted the occasion to be a “celebration of Caitie’s life” so there were balloons, confetti, and, in place of the traditional black, was pink, Caitie's favorite color.


Photo from Courageous Caitie/Facebook

Those who attended were also encouraged to wear colorful attires and don children's band-aids, a source of cheer for Caitie during her long stay in hospitals. 

Photos from the Courageous Caitie Facebook page show the “wedding march” of Caitie's remains being escorted by her parents to the crematorium with people in Storm Trooper costumes (Caitie's favorite character in Star Wars) standing in salute. A post published on the page on the morning of the event said that the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra would provide music in between messages from loved ones and friends. A service was to follow led by Pastor Roy Felipe and a wedding reception program was to be held in the evening.


Photo from Courageous Caitie/Facebook

As proof of the number of people Caitie and her family have touched and inspired, the official GoFundMe page set up for Caitie has reached $159,816 (more than P7,000,000) in donations as of writing. To support Caitie's hospital bills, there were other fund raising efforts that included a benefit gig, several auctions for artworks, a movie screening for the movies Risen, The Finest Hours and Miracles from Heaven, fitness classes, a photoshoot, and sales of merchandise. 

As of March 27, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that medical bills and hospital expenses for Caitie has reached P4.5 million. The GoFundMe page is still accepting donations for “medical costs and other incidental expenses accumulated when Caitie still graced the earth.”