In January, as Reyna Castellanos walked out of her last chemotherapy session, not only was she surprised by the numerous friends and family members who came to show their support, but she was also given a special gift.
Freddy Lopez, her husband, knelt down on one knee and proposed to her for the second time. She burst into tears.
The mother of three was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after giving birth to her third child.
The couple, who are already married with three children, had decided to renew their wedding vows during a particularly rough period of Castellanos’ fight against cancer—but they had agreed to wait.
Lopez told PEOPLE that around last Thanksgiving his wife became doubtful over the chances of her survival.
“She was kind of giving up. She thought she wasn’t gonna make it with breast cancer stage 3 going on 4,” Lopez told PEOPLE. “We were just laying down and … we just broke down and started crying. She told me, ‘I want to get married again. I want to renew our vows.'”
Lopez assured Castellanos that she would live and insisted that they wait to renew their vows until their 10th wedding anniversary. However, a few months later, Lopez decided to surprise his wife instead.
After a hard battle fought against cancer, it was finally her last day of chemotherapy.
Despite Castellanos wanting to renew the couple’s vows as soon as possible, Lopez remains optimistic about their future together.
“Yes, we’re gonna get married again and you’re gonna be there,” he told her. “You can’t give up … We’re together in this.”
Once Castellanos greeted her family and friends, Lopez proposed to her.
Lopez reminded his wife of the time they were both unsure about her chance of survival. He told PEOPLE that his wife was overcome with emotion. She was crying, but it was tears of joy. The day that they both doubted would come had finally arrived.
“I thought we weren’t gonna be able to make it to this day, but I want to ask you to marry me again,” he said to her.
Through tears, Castellanos said yes.
The couple plans to renew their vows with a big wedding celebration, something that Lopez said his wife wants, on July 14, 2018. That day would mark the second anniversary since Castellanos’ diagnosis.
“We’re doing it on that day because we want to delete that memory of when she was diagnosed and replace it with our new beginning,” Lopez told PEOPLE.