A tragic young cancer victim given just three months to live is to see her dying wish come true and have the fairytale wedding she had dreamed of since she was a child.
Brave Kirsty Ferris, 22, will wed Richard Bare this week after doctors confirmed her condition was terminal and she was living on ‘borrowed time’.
Kirsty had suffered ”stabbing” pains in her back for twelve months but an MRI scan revealed she was in the advanced stages of renal cancer.
On the same day specialists told Kirsty she had probably had the disease of the kidneys for two years, it was terminal — and had only months to live.
But brave Kirsty refused to let it get her down and WITHIN MINUTES was engaged to Richard after he proposed outside the hospital where they received the heartbreaking news.
The couple are to marry this week in a ”fairytale” wedding that Kerry had dreamed of since she was a little girl.
Kirsty, of Plymouth,Devon, said: ”I haven’t any children and I haven’t achieved that much in my life.
”But the one thing I’ve wanted to achieve since I was a little girl was to get married.
”I’m not scared of dying. It’s the people I’m leaving behind I’m more upset about. It hurts and kills me to think that something that’s happening to me will make other people feel so bad.
”It’s not my fault and I can’t do anything about it, but I feel guilty. I just want to wave a magic wand and get rid of this cancer, but I can’t.”
Kirsty, who now requires full-time care and spends much of her time in a wheelchair, was diagnosed just seven months after losing her father John to prostate cancer at 56.
She originally thought she was suffering from a trapped nerve and underwent acupuncture and various other treatments, but nothing seemed to ease the pain.
Finally doctors in Plymouth carried out an MRI scan and found a shadow around her kidney.
The same day Kirsty and Richard visited Derriford Hospital so she could undergo a biopsy, and it confirmed the couple’s fears, that Kirsty had cancer.
The prognosis was not good. Doctors told the couple: ”It’s treatable but not curable.”
Initially, being told she had three months to live, radiotherapy and other treatments worked, increasing her life expectancy.
The cancer then spread to her lower back and lymph glands – but Kirsty is refusing to let anything spoil her special day.
Richard, who used to work in the entertainment industry before giving it up to care for Kirsty, said whatever time the couple had together was precious to them.
Richard, fighting back tears, said: ”It’s been hard – probably the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I just feel lucky to have met Kirsty.
”I still feel lucky now knowing I can spend the time I can with her. I wish things were different but there’s nothing we can do.”
The couple will marry at the Astor Hotel in Plymouth after owner Joseph Louei agreed to stage the ceremony free of charge.
Joseph added: ”When I heard what Kirsty and Richard had been through I just wanted to help. I’m honoured she came to me.
”It’s such a sad story but she’s incredibly brave. Together they’re a very loving and caring couple. It was the very least I could do.”
Renal cell cancer is the most common kidney cancer in adults and the average age of sufferers is 55.
The condition is more common in men than women and in its early stages there are usually no signs or symptoms.
