When cancer-ravaged Birmingham mother-of-two Charlene Harper made a dying wish to get married, she was able to take her vows with her partner and childhood sweetheart Lee within two days. Hospice workers also rallied around to make sure that Charlene’s final days were her happiest. Health Correspondent Alison Dayani reports.

‘TIL death do us part’ was a poignant marriage vow for couple Lee and Charlene Harper on their wedding day.

It was 28-year-old’s Charlene’s dream come true, but also her dying wish.

For this was no ordinary wedding. Organised in just two days with a special marriage licence, the bride had been too ill to pick her own dress and the venue was a hospice.

But happiness that day was overflowing as Charlene and Lee, with their eight-year-old son Ryan as ringbearer and 18-month-old toddler Ellie by their side, made their eternal vows of love, in sickness and in health, knowing that they had little remaining time.

Within weeks, the young mum, of Redditch Road, Kings Norton, died surrounded by her family at St Mary’s Hospice, in Selly Park.

“It was Charlene’s best day ever.” recalls 37-year-old Lee, with a smile. “Charlene was laughing and smiling all day and for a few days afterwards. We were so happy we had the chance to do it with all the people we care about.”

Charlene was diagnosed with an incurable cancer of the soft tissue, called metastatic sarcoma, in May last year after suffering with severe pains.

Scans showed Charlene, a catering assistant at Edgbaston’s Priory Hospital, had unknowingly suffered with the cancer for some time and it had moved into all the soft tissue around her body, putting pressure on her vital organs.

“When Charlene went into the hospice in March, she had been given three days to live as she was in so much pain, but she fought it and pulled through,” adds Lee, who works as a car valet contractor to the motor industry. “We had talked about getting married before Charlene found out she had cancer, but that put everything on hold.

“One day, we were just chatting in the hospice about it and Charlene said ‘I’d really like to get married’ and a doctor overheard and made it happen. That was on the Tuesday and we were married by Thursday.

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“The hospice chefs made the cake and food, the nurses dressed up the conservatory, the doctor arranged a special licence from Birmingham Register Office. Charlene’s sister, Claire O’Gorman, was trusted to go and pick a dress and we just had to let people know we were tying the knot.

“The nurses even dressed up her bedroom at the hospice with signs saying ‘Honeymoon Suite’ with balloons and a camp bed for me next to her bed.”

Wishlist

THE wedding was on a wishlist of things Charlene dress sashes and ribbons dress sashes and ribbons, who grew up with her mum Jennifer O’Gorman, in Kings Norton, wanted to do when she realised that there was no cure and chemotherapy had failed to make an impact.

She managed a Valentine’ empire line evening dresses champagne bridesmaid dresses s Day romantic getaway in Stratford Upon Avon with Lee and the children’s first beach family holiday to Great Yarmouth but was unable to finish a memory box for Ellie and Ryan.

“You can’t imagine what it is like being told you are going to die,” says Lee. “I couldn’t believe it at first. We had some really tough moments during that final year.

“After having the first bout of chemotherapy, it made Charlene feel worse. She wanted to stop it, but continued for the children. She thought that if it gave her the glimmer of hope of another few years with them, it was worth it, but that didn’t happen.

“The cancer came back with a vengeance. It’s such a cruel thing to have. Charlene got weaker and weaker but she always kept happy and joked about dying and coming back to see me. I used to say: ‘If you come back, don’t just jump out on me, give me some warning’.

“On the night she died, I didn’t think she was going to die, but everyone was there. Her parents, me and the children.

“She reached out her hand, 2011 prom dresses 2011 prom dresses lay back, clenched her fists up by her chin tightly towards her and that was it. I felt at least she wasn’t going to suffer any more.”

Lee, a former butcher at Priory Meats, in Priory Square, city centre cheap baby bridesmaid dresses , met Charlene, a former pupil at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School girls cocktail dresses girls cocktail dresses, when she was 17 at a social club in Cotteridge.

“Charlene had the biggest heart in the world and would do anything for anyone,” adds Lee.

“The nurses and staff at St Mary’s Hospice are wonderful. They see hundreds of people a year but they made us feel special and really care about each and every person.

“I think because Charlene was so young and they were seeing the children all the time, it hit a chord with the young nurses and we still go back and see them now.

“I am doing a memory box with Ryan and Ellie. It’s small things, like her wig and a glass that Charlene used to take her tablets with.

“Ellie doesn’t know where her mum is but that makes it easier as she is so young, I don’t have to explain it to her. We went back to the hospice a few days ago and when we pulled up in the car park, Ellie said ‘ hot pink bridesmaid dresses cheap ;Are we going to see mummy now?’ and I just froze.

“We practically lived at the hospice when Charlene was there and Ellie associates it with her mum. I took her to the empty room where Charlene was to try and explain her mummy isn’t here any more.

“I have made sure me and the kids are very open about it and we talk about their mum all the time.”

Ryan, a pupil at Fairway Primary School, Kings Norton, plays for the Santiago Colts football team.

Last weekend, Ryan’s football coach Aidan Thompson raised money for St Mary’s Hospice in Charlene’s memory by running the length of the Malvern Hills, which are ten miles in length and 1,394ft at their highest point.

St Mary’s Hospice opened in 1979 and has cared for tens of thousands of people and MS, but bosses must find half of its £6.3 million running costs from donations.

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