ROCKFORD, Ill. — Matt and Melissa Stucky first met in August of 2007, and for Matt, the connection was immediate.

“We eventually met, and it's just like, you know, once we started talking to each other, it was instantaneous,” he said.

“Her laugh, which is just contagious, makes you want to make her laugh more and be around her, or just the way that she would just talk to you and comfort you and just be like everyone's best friend.”

By 2010, the couple married and began building their life together.

Life was joyful and peaceful as they welcomed their daughter, Maggie, into the world. But in December 2018, everything changed.

“She just found a lump on her breast, and she went to get it checked out. They kind of knew right away that was probably not going to be anything good,” Matt said.

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