In 2005, a 14-year-old Haitian girl arrived in Miami with a 16-pound tumor on her face. She had difficulty eating, speaking, and breathing. Her name was Marlie Casseus.
She underwent surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The surgeries were extremely long; the first lasted 16 hours, according to NBC Miami. A titanium plate supported part of her jaw.
Years later, a man from California saw her on television. His name was Billy Wyatt. He didn’t know how to help, so he started with the smallest thing: he sent her school supplies.
One package. Then another. Then came calls, support, and being there for her. What began as a gift became a friendship, and the friendship turned into love, as he told WSVN.
On July 7, 2023, the day Marlie turned 31, Billy called her on FaceTime. He held up a sign: “Will you marry me?”. Her mother, in Haiti, had said yes.
They married in August 2023, in Miramar, Florida. Marlie could no longer walk. Her nurse, Gina Eugene, summed it up this way: “The happiness Bill brought her was like an angel”. Sadly, Casseus passed away on March 11, 2024.
Almost all of us watch a story like this and change the channel. Billy stayed for fifteen years.
