Aylesbury: Woman donates wedding dress to hospice to raise funds

Sharon Arrowsmith married her husband Russ at Florence Nightingale Hospice in Aylesbury

A woman who married her dying husband has donated her wedding dress to the hospice that cared for him so it can be sold to raise funds.

Sharon and Russ Arrowsmith tied the knot at Florence Nightingale Hospice in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 13 days before his death aged 68.

Hospice staff helped them make the wedding arrangements.

Mrs Arrowsmith, 63, said: "I hope the person who purchases my dress feels as special as I did on my wedding day."

Mrs Arrowsmith described her "beautiful, funny husband" as not "just my partner, he was my best friend"

The couple met in 2019 and Mr Arrowsmith, who had a rare blood cancer, underwent a stem cell transplant.

But after he was re-admitted to hospital, he was told the cancer had returned and his condition was terminal.

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Mrs Arrowsmith, of Princes Risborough, said: "My beautiful, funny husband, Russ, proposed to me on a hospital trolley.

"Russ was ill, really ill, but I said yes anyway - because he wasn't just my partner, he was my best friend."

She paid tribute to the hospice staff who helped them have "a beautiful wedding" and surrounded them with "care, love and compassion".

Mrs Arrowsmith added: "Russ was in a wheelchair, he looked at me and said, 'You look absolutely stunning I love you so much'."

She said she will "never be able to repay the hospice for all they've done and continue to do for my family"

While donating the dress to the charity's Aylesbury shop was "a bit of a wrench", she said she wanted to continue to help the hospice be there for other patients and their families in the future.

Jo Turner, chief executive of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity, said: "Like most charities particularly during a cost of living crisis we're always looking for different ways to raise money.

"We want people to know the hospice is there and the kind of care it provides - and not to be worried about being referred to the hospice."

The charity's 14 shops help raise £500,000 a year towards the cost of running the 12-bed hospice and providing care at home.