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It’s supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life.
After two years of dating the man of her dreams, Michelle White from Bristol had finally married Scott Plumley.
But the newlywed is heartbroken. Because just 13 hours after saying “I do” she witnessed Scott die. He’d suffered from an aggressive cancer.
“I sat with him, holding his hand and he smiled,” Michelle (32) told Bristol Live. “He kept saying he was sorry and, ‘I love you’.
“I was holding him and kissing him and he took three gasps of breath and I said, ‘Its OK baby, you can go now and get out of the pain’.”
In less than a week she’s had to organise both a wedding and a funeral.
“I was only his wife for 13 hours, but now I’ve gained such an amazing family – my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, cousins, and a whole load of friends.”
Michelle, a care worker, and Scott, who was a self-employed electrician, met on a dating site, Mail Online writes.
The couple chatted for weeks before they eventually met up in person. But it was love at first sight when they did, Michelle says.
A few months later Scott moved into Michelle’s home in Lawrence Weston, Bristol, and took on the role of father to her two kids from a previous relationship.
On 9 August Michelle returned home after working night shift and to find Scott had collapsed on the floor.
According to The Sun, before his collapse Scott had been complaining about terrible indigestion and doctors prescribed omeprazole, which is used to treat stomach ulcers.
In a panic, Michelle called the ambulance and Scott (41) was admitted to Southmead Hospital the Friday morning. Doctors told Michelle that Scott had stage 4 cancer of the oesophagus and because it had been discovered so late, it had already spread to his liver.
She was told there was nothing they could do for him.
“I asked how long, expecting them to say a couple of months or something, so I could bring him home, but they said, ‘No it’ll be weeks at most. In fact, it could be just days’.”
Medical personnel could offer Scott nothing more than palliative care.
“This was devastating,” Michelle says.
Given his diagnosis, the couple wanted to get married as soon as possible.
“We were already engaged. We got engaged on the anniversary of us getting together and we were planning to get married, saving up for it. I had a few bits and bobs bought for when the day came.”
They decided to get married on 15 August, two days after Scott’s diagnosis.
“We got to the Register Office in the city centre at 4pm on Tuesday and got the Registrar to come to the hospital at noon on Wednesday.
“It was a massive rush. I literally had 20 hours to prepare and arrange a wedding. Everyone was so generous. One of my friends did the flowers, got a cake. One neighbour did my hair, it was amazing.”
