Derbyshire hospice gives cancer patient wedding to remember

Heather and Richard Odams shared their vows inside the summerhouse at Ashgate Hospice

Hospice staff and volunteers pulled together to give a 32-year-old woman with incurable cancer a wedding day to remember.

Heather and Richard Odams tied the knot surrounded by family and close friends at Ashgate Hospice in Old Brampton, Derbyshire.

The couple, from nearby Chesterfield, brought their wedding forward from June due to Ms Odams' illness.

"It was a really beautiful day," said Mr Odams, 41.

Mrs Odams had been due to receive fertility treatment when a biopsy in March revealed she had incurable endometrial cancer.

The couple took part in an intimate hand-fasting ceremony, in respect of Mr Odams' pagan faith

The couple, who met online in 2017, shared their vows inside the hospice's summerhouse, which was decorated with flowers and rose petals.

They also took part in an intimate hand-fasting ceremony - an ancient ritual in which the hands are tied together to symbolise the binding of two people's lives - in respect of Mr Odams' pagan faith.

Mrs Odams' brother, Mitch Needham, had flown from Switzerland to walk her down the aisle.

Mr Odams, originally from Nottingham, said: "It was a really beautiful day. It seemed to go in a flash, just like every wedding does, but we had such a lovely time."

Mrs Odams has been treated at the hospice since early April

He said hospice staff and volunteers had been "brilliant", adding: "Heather had been in a quite a lot of pain beforehand but that soon went away with her feeling the love.

"She was so happy with how everything went and thought it was such a beautiful day."

Mrs Odams, who moved to Derbyshire from Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada, was a community care worker before her illness and had been accepted on to a midwifery nursing programme in Sheffield after completing a college course last year.

She has been receiving care at Ashgate's inpatient unit since April, where staff have been able to manage her pain and ensure she is comfortable as possible.

Mr Odams, a psychic medium, added: "The care has just been excellent since we arrived; Heather and I are just so grateful to the staff and volunteers here."

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