Cancer patient in 'whirl' wedding at Bristol hospice

Terri and Geoff Hudson had 36 hours to organise their wedding after a special licence was granted on Friday

A man diagnosed with terminal cancer a few weeks ago has married his long-term partner at a hastily-arranged wedding at a hospice.

Geoff and Terri Hudson tied the knot at St Peter's Hospice in Bristol on Tuesday with only 36 hours' notice.

The couple, who met nine years ago, said they always planned to marry but the diagnosis brought things forward.

Mrs Hudson said the ceremony organised "in a whirl" had been "wow, wow, pow, pow".

The couple had to apply for a special licence to marry at the hospice as a register office would have been impractical for Mr Hudson.

Terri Hudson rushed out and bought her outfit on Friday

Mrs Hudson, 68, said: "Yesterday I was Terri King and today I am Terri Hudson. The celebration has been absolutely wonderful - St Peter's has been absolutely fantastic - it's just been a whirl."

She said her 65-year-old new husband had proposed to her just a few weeks after they met and "I said ,'oh, all right' and then he didn't mention it for years".

However, she added he did buy her an engagement ring.

'Wow, wow, pow, pow'

"Last August he asked my father permission to marry me and he said 'yes, of course you can'. Sadly Dad passed away in October.

"We just decided to get married now and because he [Geoff] wasn't well enough to go to the registry office, Neil at the hospice said we could get married here and today it happened - wow, wow, pow, pow."

"It's difficult because he is ill but the people at St Peter's Hospice have been lovely, amazing," she said.

Johnny Flanagan, from the hospice, said: "It was an absolute honour to be a part of Geoff and Terri's special day at St Peter's Hospice.

"The whole team at the hospice worked incredibly hard to make it happen, and for it to be a memorable day for Terri, Geoff and their family."