Couple Marry In Hospital Waiting Room After 32-Year-Old Bride Is Given 48 Hours To Live

A couple in the UK tied the knot in the waiting room of a hospital after receiving a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis by doctors. Jack Benniston and his girlfriend Michelle O'Connor welcomed their first child last June but were dealt a devastating blow when the 32-year-old was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Michelle's condition quickly took a turn for the worse and the couple were told that the new mother may only have days to live.

"I got a phonecall at work and they said she's looking bad and I should come in. I got there and they said she's really gone downhill and they didn't expect her to make the weekend. I just couldn't believe it really, it didn't seem real. I found out it was terminal about a week earlier, which was just awful," he said.

Wanting to treasure their remaining time together, Jack popped the question to Michelle and doctors informed them that there were facilities on the premises to hold a wedding that day.

"Instantly, I said "let's go for it". I managed to get both our families there and some close friends, which was lovely. The nurses finished their shift at five and they spent the next hour dressing up the room, you would never imagine it was a waiting room," she said.

"It was amazing seeing Michelle walk down the aisle, she looked beautiful. It was a lovely wedding. It was gut-wrenching but it made Michelle happy and that's all I wanted."

The couple spent Michelle's remaining time at a cancer hospice, with Jack vowing not to miss on "any moments we had left together".

"Before she was ill, we always used to spend every living moment together, we lived as we died. We wouldn't have it any other way, we loved it. We would just talk and talk for days on end. Sometimes I would take her out into the grounds and we would have some fresh air, sometimes we just stayed in our room all day.

"By that time she knew she didn't have long left and there was no hope, I didn't tell her, she just knew. Every day that passed she would sleep for longer and she was getting weaker. I knew it was coming."

Jack is now adjusting to life as a single father and said of baby Martha: "She has been the best therapy any counselling could ever give me. I love her so much, she's amazing."