A heartbroken couple tied the knot after the groom was diagnosed with incurable cancer.
Chris Williamson was diagnosed with skin tissue cancer in December 2021 after finding a hard lump on his left elbow.
The 48-year-old had 25 rounds of radiotherapy to harden the lump and make it easier to remove.
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Workshop manager Chris went into surgery on Valentine’s Day 2022 and surgeons successfully removed the tumour after three hours.
The couple said they were able “to get on with their lives” until seven months later when Chris felt a pain in his back while in the shower.
The family were given the devastating news that Chris’s cancer had returned.
He was given one to two years to live and Chris decided he wanted to spend it married to partner of 15 years Samantha.
Chris proposed to Samantha on holiday to Gibraltar in August 2023.
He continued having treatment in the hopes of shrinking the tumour and giving him more time.
But, Samantha said their “world’s fell apart” in August this year when they were told that the cancer had spread and there was nothing more medics could do.
Realising that they’d need to wed quickly, they organised their big day in just six weeks.
They tied the knot in their local church in front of 60 guests and had the reception in a pub nearby.
Samantha said it was “the perfect day.”
“I can’t put into words how it felt to hear that there was nothing more that could be done,” Samantha, from Rochester, Kent, told Need to Know.
“It was unbelievable. I cried more than Chris.
“My whole world fell apart. We’d come so far. I never expected anything like this to happen to us.
“He was having chemotherapy to slow it down and we booked a holiday to Gibraltar to make the most of the time we have left.
“Chris proposed to me in a cave. I was surprised because we’ve been together for 15 years. He’d taken his time.
“Things kept stopping us from getting married then cancer came along and stopped us getting married.
“I was nervous but the day was perfect. It was amazing. It was everything I hoped it would be.
“I’m so glad we did it before its too late. We have the same last name now.
“Chris doesn’t want to leave me and I can’t imagine my life without him.
“He’s such a strong man. I couldn’t have gone through what he has. He’s so determined.”
Two weeks after the ceremony, Chris took a turn for the worse and had to go into a hospice for care.
There, he was given the news that he likely only had days left.
Chris defied the odds and has gone home to his family but has been left paralysed as the tumour has wrapped around his spinal chord.
He has visits from carers four times a day.
Samantha said: “He found the lump in his arm and the GP thought it was golfer’s elbow.
“It got bigger and bigger. It was huge but we were being pushed back because of Covid.
“When he was diagnosed, I felt like our world was crumbling. We didn’t know what was happening and we panicked.
“As soon as you hear the word cancer, you think the worst. It’s the dreaded C word.
“We never got to have a honeymoon because he fell ill and needed hospice care.”
The couple met in 2009 when Samantha was working as a driver, delivering parts to Chris’s haulage company.
Chris already had three sons of his own and Samantha was a mum-of-two daughters.
They bonded over cups of tea in the break room and Chris eventually asked her on a date to a noodle bar.
She moved in with him a year later and in 2011 they had their first child together, Mason, 13.
Samantha said she was surprised when Chris got down on one knee in a cave after 15 years together.
She added: “We would have a cup of tea together and it progressed from there.
“It was a slow burner.
“We just never got around to getting married. There was always something stopping us.
“He had three children already and I had two so we were just looking after the kids.
“It’s always been a loving relationship. He treats me so well, like a princess.
“I’ve never wanted for anything. If I’m moody, he brings me flowers and that’s the kind of man he is.
“I don’t want to imagine my life without him in it. He’s always been there.”
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