What should have been the most joyous day in the life of one family tragically turned into its biggest nightmare this week.
This past Saturday in Costa Rica, Michelle Howard married Luis Diego Granera.
According to WSPA, the bride had just finished the traditional father-daughter dance with her dad, Tim Buchanan, when the latter suffered a heart attack.
He did not survive this incident and passed away at the age of 54.
Buchanan had worked as a detective in South Carolina, with South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association sharing a Facebook message about the tragedy on Monday.
“What a heartbreaking story! Our hearts and prayers go out to the Buchanan family and the entire York County Sheriff’s Office over the sudden loss of Detective Tim Buchanan,” the post reads.
It added that those who wanted to could assist the Buchanan family with its unexpected expense via a GoFundMe page.
You can visit this page and contribute HERE.
Buchanan’s wife, Jeni, who actually worked as a wedding photographer, posted about the tragedy on her Facebook page as well
“You never know when the last time will be the last time!” she wrote as the beginning of a lengthy caption to the photo above.
“Tim came into my life at a time when I was broken to the core and held me up and built me into a strong person. Over the years we raised four amazing children, cared for my little brothers when they needed us the most and had even had the honor of a beautiful grandchild.
“He was the most beautiful soul I have ever known and I will never be the same without him. I know he loved me and our family.
“I am so very grateful for this image of us that our dear friends Kelly Rae Stewart and her husband snuck during our daughter’s wedding yesterday. Little did I know just a few hours later we would lose him.
“****Please no phone calls right now.****
“I am still in Costa Rica and on top of that I just can’t deal with much right now. Once we have plans settled, someone will update or announce them. For now, just pray.
“He was always the one to make us feel better when things went wrong and so we need all the prayers we can get.”
The aforementioned GoFundMe page raised raised over $ 12,000 within the first few hours it went live.
The York County Sheriff’s Department also went ahead and honored Buchanan on its own Facebook page.
What a tragic story.
Our thoughts and our prayers go out to this family.