A terminally ill groom
robbed of speech by cancer married his childhood sweetheart by squeezing her
hand to say ‘I do’ before he died 11 days later. William Kent, 24 married Emma,
25, at his hospital bedside despite not being able to speak or blink because of
nerve damage caused by the illness. For six months William, a teacher, fought
the disease and would not let it ruin the moment he married Emma who he had
proposed to three years ago on Valentine’s Day.
Instead of saying his vows, he squeezed the registrar’s hand before his father supported his hand so he could make a mark on the marriage register.
Family and friends from
Ilkeston’s Ormiston Enterprise Academy, where William taught, crammed into the
hospital room after being given just hours’ notice of the ceremony.
Nurses had told William’s family and Emma earlier that day that they could arrange for the wedding to happen to fulfil the couple’s wishes. William died from lymphoma cancer 11 days after the whirlwind ceremony at Nottingham City Hospital on October 3.
Emma, who wore a blue dress for ceremony, said William loved life and was adored by everyone.
She said: ‘The squeeze
of the hand was so tight, there was no doubt in my mind at all that he wanted
to be married.
‘I rushed into town to
buy wedding bands. They only stocked samples so I bought those.
‘The wedding meant
absolutely everything and it was amazing, I think it spurred him on with the
strength to keep going for another 11 days. ‘Everyone adored William, he made
friends with everyone he met and he had a huge group of friends. ‘He’d always
act the fool and would spoil a couple of photos pulling faces. We first met
properly in art classes at sixth form, we started talking and then went to a
pub quiz together. William was really excited about everything, it was
infectious his sense of joy at life, he was a cheeky chappy.’
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