Asa Hill was 7 years old when he died. Although the boy was pulled out of a burning car alive in a horrific accident on the Niagara Thruway on Thursday, his injuries proved critical, and he passed away the following night.
The Buffalo, New York, community, shaken, turned out in large numbers at his funeral Monday to support his parents, Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatzion, and were pleasantly surprised when the couple ended the service with a wedding ceremony, a fulfillment of their son’s wish.
The Rev. Joel Miller of The Unitarian Universalist Church of Elmwood, where the service was held, was unsure at first when the idea of a wedding was proposed by the couple and their family.
“I asked twice, ‘We’re doing a wedding?’ This was new for me. I never did a funeral service and a wedding ceremony at the same time, and normally wouldn’t, but they have known each other since they were teens,” Miller said. “And they had been providing for Asa, and they made a home together for all of Asa’s life. … It was clear they were following through on something they had been talking about for some time.”