The pair had planned to marry on December 30 but were advised to bring the date forward to December 23 after her condition worsened.
Her last words were her vows to David at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut.
Speaking to WFSB, David said: “Nobody thought she would’ve made it that far. She proved them all wrong and that’s what that photo says to me.
“It reminds me of someone who is crossing the finish line of a marathon or something.”
The two met at a swing dance class two-and-a-half years ago in May 2015, and David said they were “inseparable” after that.
But on December 23 2016, Heather discovered she had breast cancer – and that sam day David proposed.
David said: “She didn’t know I was going to propose that night, but I said to myself, she needs to know she’s not going to go down this road alone.”
He proposed as planned that night, on a horse drawn carriage.
But just five days later the diagnosis was a triple negative, which is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, and by September 2017 the cancer had spread further.
David added: “We found out it was in her brain and a couple months later, she was on life support with a breathing tube.
“She was tough. Anyone else would have given up a long time ago. The doctors even said we don’t know how she’s still here.”
But despite her fighting spirit, doctors told David that they didn’t think she’d reach the December 30 wedding date and they moved the ceremony to December 22.
David said: “I knew it was going to be the last time we were going to be together in a love way, it just seemed like the strangest funeral I’ve ever been to.”
Heather wore her cream bejewelled wedding gown and wore a brown wig.
Her vows, pledging her love to David, were the last she ever spoke.
Bridesmaid Christina Karas said: “We were losing her as we were all standing there, thinking, to hold onto this, because this was the last she had to give.”
And a year to the day of their engagement, Heather passed away on December 23.
David said: “She’s my great love, and I’m going to lose her, but I’m not losing her forever.
“Heather said, “I want to keep fighting,” so that’s the mantra I’m picking up. She was able to fight til the end, I’m going to fight until my end.”