Hospital helps patient celebrate daughter after wedding at Loyola

Once again, hospital staff is rallying around Darren Wiley, the patient whose wedding was held at the hospital about one year ago, to help his family celebrate another major milestone.

Wiley was hospitalized at Loyola in March 2025 after a sudden leukemia diagnosis two weeks before his planned wedding to his now wife, Ivy. When staff learned he would still be hospitalized on his wedding date, they stepped in to organize a wedding celebration at the hospital's chapel. At the time, the couple was expecting their first child, a daughter named Iceland, who was born the following month in April 2025.

Wiley received a bone marrow transplant in December 2025 and has been hospitalized for the majority of that time due to complications from the transplant. Wiley is immunocompromised and has not been able to see his daughter or extended family while in the hospital. Hospital staff worked with his family to plan a surprise family gathering to lift Wiley's spirits. The care team organized the event complete with food, gifts and plenty of smiles to celebrate with the people the family describes as "their village."

He was joined by his wife, their daughter and members of their family and care team to celebrate one year since his wedding and his daughter's birth.