'Hospital wedding was my wife's dying wish'

The couple had been together for 35 years but had never found the time to get married

A woman who was told she had terminal cancer fulfilled her dying wish by marrying her long-term partner while in hospital, weeks before she died.

Chris and Ann Holt, from Wesham, Lancashire, had been together for 35 years when hospital scans revealed an aggressive cancer had spread from Mrs Cole's lungs to her liver.

"After the diagnosis, she said: 'Chris will you marry me?' I couldn't really refuse, could I?" Mr Cole, 63, recalls.

"We had been together for 35 years. It was always one of those things - she had the ring and everything, years and years ago. She said, 'we'll do it' - but that day had never happened."

'No tears'

Mrs Holt, 73, was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in the middle of August with breathing difficulties,

Further investigation by the doctors led to a grim prognosis. The cancer had spread from her lungs to her liver and she was given weeks to live.

Draining the lungs did not help, and Mrs Holt was too weak for chemotherapy.

"In typical fashion, Ann said: 'we've got to be strong and we've got to keep going – from this day forward, there is to be no tears. Smiles only," said Mr Holt.

He added: "She was a very, very brave lady."

On learning the couple wanted to marry in hospital, staff went out of their way to prepare for the bedside ceremony.

In particular, Mr Holt highlighted the efforts of Martha Mitchell, a nurse from Trinity Hospice who works in the hospital in Blackpool, and who contacted the chaplain, Rev Ian Baxter and made the necessary arrangements on the ward.

"The wonderful, wonderful Martha Mitchell managed to arrange a wedding for us at very short notice which I will be eternally grateful for," he said.

Mr Holt called his hospital wedding "a perfect day".

Mr Holt said the couple requested "just two witnesses" - Ms Mitchell and another nurse.

"It was a beautiful ceremony, absolutely. It brought me so much happiness, but also Ann.

"The smile on her face was just amazing, it really was. It was a perfect day for us - an absolute perfect day

"It was quite a special day anyway, because it was Ann's birthday, and in the morning Theo - our grandson - was going to school for the first day, so we watched a video of that."

"It was very, very bittersweet, I suppose."

He added: "What can I say about Ward 5? They were truly astonishing people. I seriously think, along with Trinity, we have angels on this planet.

"The job they do is amazing, just amazing, and I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you."

Megan Parry-Jones said weddings in hospital or a hospice setting remain rare

Mrs Holt was subsequently transferred to Trinity Hospice where she died 10 days after the wedding.

"In a hospice it would be an easy thing to arrange a wedding, but in a hospital there are a few more challenges," said Trinity nurse Megan Parry-Jones.

"From a hospice, we have done weddings but they are few and far between - it's not something we do every week."

"It was a very unusual circumstance to be in, and everybody involved wanted to make sure it was the best possible day," she added.

Mr Holt said he would be showing his gratitude by taking part in the hospice's annual fundraiser early next month - a five-mile "Glow Walk" along Blackpool's seafront Illuminations on Saturday 4 October.