A terminally ill groom with just weeks to live marries his sweetheart – who suffers from the same deadly disease – in race-against-time wedding organised after his transplanted lungs were rejected.
With the news of only having weeks to live, a terminally ill transplant patient, Darren Easton, 24, decided to marry his sweetheart Lauren Pope while in hospital.
While receiving end-of-life care after both his donor lungs failed, Easton married Pope who suffers from the same dreadful disease in front of 60 guests who wept tears of joy – and overwhelming sadness.
Easton, a cystic fibrosis (CF) sufferer, told the Mirror: “When I knew I was going to die, we were going to do all we could to get married. More than anything I want Lauren to be happy – and to know even after I’m gone, I’ll always be with her.”
The brave couple were determined to seal a romance that began when they met at the funeral of a fellow CF sufferer in 2015. This after a family friend began crowdfunding – raising £3,000 in just 14 days to pay for the couple’s first and final dream.
Hairdresser Pope, also 24, said: “I know the vows say till death do us part, but it’s not for us. Our love goes beyond that and will last long after both of us have gone.”
Easton said: “It was the greatest day ever. My only concern now is Lauren will be stable. I have put away money for her as well as a box of my things to keep. I want her to be happy.”
In March 2016, Easton proposed to Pope moments after regaining consciousness from his double lung transplant.
