The Welsh Ambulance Service’s ‘Wish ambulance’ helped a terminally ill Pembrokeshire man attend his daughter’s wedding.
When Bill Billing, 84, returned home from hospital on November 12th last year, he was so unwell that he could never have imagined being able to attend his daughter’s wedding nine months later.
Bill, from Monkton, who lives with his wife Ginny, 75, had been discharged from hospital after a devastating diagnosis of secondary cancer on his spine.
The secondary spinal cancer, which was now at stage four, had followed on from his original diagnosis of cancer two years earlier, resulting in half of one his lungs being removed.
Bill also suffers with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which has left him breathless and effectively housebound.
In fact, between his cancer and the COPD, Bill had been unable to leave his home since being discharged from hospital in November 2025.
However, he was determined to make it out for one of the most significant days in his and his daughters lives as she prepared to get married on 8th August.
Bill’s daughter, Jennifer, 37, from Pembroke Dock, never lost faith as she prepared to marry her partner Callum, 24, and held on to the belief that her father would be at her side on her big day.
Jennifer said: “I always believed that somehow, my dad would be there when I got married, I pictured it in my mind and held on to the image of him being there, surrounded by family and friends.
“When we heard about the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Wish ambulance, it gave us an extra glimmer of hope that my dad would be able to attend and see me get married.
“Cheryl and Lily, the Wish ambulance crew, were simply incredible and they made sure my dad had all the care and support he needed.
“I can’t tell you how much of a difference it made on the day, and we will be forever grateful for what they did, we can’t thank them enough.
“These wonderful people gave up their own time and volunteered to crew the ambulance, spending hours looking after my dad and making it possible for him to be there.
“Without them or the Wish ambulance service, I honestly don’t see how we would have done it.”
The ‘Wish Ambulance’ initiative enables terminally ill patients across Wales to have a memory-making last journey to their favourite destination.
Since its creation in 2019, it has transported patients and their loved ones to concerts, sporting events, birthday parties, cafés, museums and even to the beach.
The Wish ambulance has now made more than 150 journeys, with 800 off-duty ambulance workers across Wales giving up their time to transport patients using non-emergency vehicles not in service that day.
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