Contact the Telegraph
Send us your news tips, photos and videos Text LT and your message to 80360 or click here for more ways to contact us »
REGISTER NOW TO POST YOUR COMMENTS ON THESE STORIES
It's free and only takes a few seconds. Click here to go to the registration page.
Terminally-ill mum’s wedding wish comes true
7:00pm Monday 27th March 2006
A TERMINALLY ill cancer patient enjoyed the fairytale wedding she had always dreamed of after friends helped organise her perfect day.
Karen Hegarty had always dreamed of having a big wedding but it was too expensive when she got married at 17.
So when she was diagnosed with lung cancer six months ago, Karen and husband George started to think a second wedding would be the ideal happy memory for the family.
Yesterday, with the help of her best friend Dawn Furness, Karen's dream of her perfect big day came true when she got the chance to wear an ivory wedding dress and renew her vows at St Paul's Church, Oswaldtwistle.
Karen, 43, of Foxfield Close, Oswaldtwistle, has two sons, Nigel, 23, and Ashlee, 11, and is trying to stay positive through her illness and said the day had been "brilliant".
She said: "This was my dream and now it's happened. I am absolutely delighted."
Best friend Dawn, 41, of Milton Street, co-ordinated the plans and she and her husband paid for the happy couple to spend a night in the wedding suite at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel.
Dawn said: "It has been brilliant and just looking at Karen's smile was worth it. She has off days when she gets tired and when we were planning the wedding she was feeling quite ill. I wasn't sure if I'd pushed her to much but this has really cheered her up."
Other friends, including Linda Morris, Mandy Duffy and Trisha Flemington, rallied round to provide the couple with a limousine to take Karen and her brother Grant, who gave her away, to the church, a three-tier wedding cake and to make sure Karen's hair and make-up was perfect.
Linda, who lives next door to Karen and George, also persuaded holiday company Fraser Eagle to donate a £50 holiday voucher, a bottle of champagne was donated by the local Co-op and a bottle of champagne was placed in the hotel room by staff at the Dunkenhalgh.
Karen said: "The chemo didn't agree with me and I got quite ill at one stage so they put me on steroids. I had thought of renewing our vows and I'd even bought a dress a few years ago. When I was diagnosed with cancer it seemed even more of a reason to do it.
"Dawn pushed me into it and I can't thank her enough for doing that.
"She is a brilliant friend. We got married in a registrar's office but I'd always wanted the whole dress and flowers."
George, 50, who is Dawn's carer, said: "It's all about positive thoughts and goals are a big part of life at the moment to stay focused. It was a fantastic day."
Latest blogs and columns
Strictly Come Dancing blog: Week eleven
DANCE teacher Graham Vernon, from Samlesbury, gives his verdict on the eleventh episode of Strictly Come Dancing.
Pubs are going the way of other traditions
Margo Grimshaw column: The pub. My local. Whatever we called it, it was there – a place to meet, to chat, to see old friends, to make new friends, to argue, to debate, to let off steam, to blame the government, the council, or all the faceless ones, or maybe just to sit and watch other people.
Making a real difference
Lancashire Telegraph comment: It’s hard to think of anyone who would disagree with the Bishop of Blackburn when he asks how ‘fat cat’ city financiers, who have had to be bailed out by taxpayers, can continue to draw bonuses.
Enjoy Christmas with a crunch
Caroline Dutton column: You know what? It's almost been worth downgrading to Smart Price for the weekly shop just for the effect this recession (nee credit crunch) has had on Christmas silliness.
If we’re ‘wired’ to believe in God, where does it all go wrong?
Rev Kevin Logan column: We’re born to believe in God. That’s how we’re hard wired; the natural default position.
Winter wildlife by the river
Ron Freethy's nature column: There is a circular walk which follows the River Wenning at Hornby to a point where it meets the River Lune.
The questions all men must ask themselves
Helen Mead column: What to buy the man in your life for Christmas? For me, the socks/cheap aftershave dilemma never fails to put a damper on what is meant to be a jolly time of year.
Time to have an inquiry
Lancashire Telegraph comment: THE saga over the axing of Burnley’s A&E department goes on.
The changing role of the local bobby
Harry Nuttall column: How well do YOU know your local bobby, or Community Beat Manager as he — or she — is called in these politically correct times?
Making yobs see sense
Lancashire Telegraph comment: Firefighters regularly put their lives on the line to save the rest of us from death, injury and potentially devastating loss of property.
PICTURE OF LOVE: Karen Hegarty and husband George's dream came true when they renewed their wedding vows with a big ceremony
In this section
- Dean of Blackburn hits out at lack of religious Christmas stamps
- Jessica Knight stabbing trial day 2: Mother of accused weeps in court
- Lancashire County Council warns there will be losers in massive pay review
- Snow brings traffic chaos and school closures to Lancashire
- New council sponsorship deal for Accrington Stanley
- Ambitious ice rink plan for dilapidated Rawtenstall community centre
- Drunken teen's 'idiotic rampage' in Knuzden
- Rawtenstall man 'had 11,000 indecent images of children hidden under floorboards'
- Oswaldtwistle boy, 13, still in hospital
- 'East Lancashire lovers killed husband with butcher's knife'
Sponsored Links
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
