Woman surprises husband by asking flight attendant to announce he’s cancer-free during honeymoon trip

A woman sweetly surprised her husband by secretly asking a flight attendant to announce that he’s cancer-free.

Haley Louvelle took to TikTok earlier this month to share a video of her and her husband, Josh, as they were on a flight. While filming her and Josh as they were in their seats, Haley specified how she made the surprise for him happen.

“When you sneak a note to the flight attendant to give this announcement without your husband seeing,” she wrote. The video then continued to record the message from the flight attendant over the intercom, with the airline employee starting by introducing Josh. She also went on to describe Josh’s medical history as a cancer survivor.

“Hello everyone! I have a little announcement to share with everyone. I wanted to give a special welcome to a guest on today’s flight,” the flight attendant said. “A young man on this plane named Josh was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in June of 2020. Since then he has had chemo, radiation and surgery to remove his entire right lung, thymus gland, the lining of his heart and part of his diaphragm.”

The flight attendant concluded the announcement by then revealing that Josh was officially cancer-free and heading on a vacation with his wife.

“He was on life support two times and was in and out of the hospital for years. He fought for his life and is now cancer-free and on his way to his honeymoon in Jamaica!” she said, which prompted applause from the rest of the plane passengers.

She then acknowledged that the passengers had already begun clapping before she finished the announcement, adding: “I was going to say, please join me in giving Josh the biggest round of applause!"

Toward the end of the video, Haley went on to cheer for her husband, while leaning on his arm.

Haley’s videos have quickly gone viral on TikTok, with more than 367,00 views as of 17 January. In the comments, many people went on to praise Haley for her surprise and celebrate Josh being cancer-free.

“Brb crying this is so sweet,” one wrote, while another added: “Crying for strangers. Josh deserves all the hype.”

“HE IS OBVIOUSLY A SUPERHERO!!!!!!” a third wrote. “I pray you two enjoy a very very long and happy life together!!!”

During an interview with People, Haley went on to share the note that she handed to the flight attendant, in which she made her request. The note also included the written out announcement that the flight attendant made over the intercom.

“Hi!!! I wanted to see if there is any chance you could read this over the speakers?" the note read. "Possibly near the beginning of the flight so I can have my phone ready to take a video and make sure neither of us have our headphones on yet? Thank you!!!"

Speaking to the publication, Haley specified that in 2020, Joshua was diagnosed with stage 4 Thymoma, which is a rare form of cancer that “can form in the cells that cover the outside surface of the thymus,” according to The National Institutes of Health. According to Haley, her honeymoon got postponed three times after her husband received his diagnosis, with one of those trips being pushed because her partner was undergoing cancer treatments.

“We were supposed to go two days after our wedding in July 2022, but my husband experienced a flare-up of his autoimmune disease and we had to cancel our trip,” she said, before adding that while the trip was then rebooked six months later, her husband “still wasn’t healthy enough to go”. So when they finally got to go on their honeymoon, Haley said the trip was “long-awaited”.

Haley also shared that when the flight attendant made the now-viral announcement, Josh had no idea it was coming. “My husband was so shocked and surprised when hearing the announcement,” she said. “After the video, he was asking how I did that without him realising.”

“I was emotional and so proud as she was reading the note,” she added.

The Independent has contacted Haley for comment.