A young man has married his girlfriend from his bed after being notified that he has only a few days to live.
20-year-old Owen Copland, a student at Liverpool John Moores University, received a brain cancer diagnosis in November last year.
Not long after, he underwent what was hoped to be a life-saving surgery as well as radiotherapy, but the latest scans revealed that the tumor has grown immensely, causing medical experts to believe that he has only a few days left to live.
After receiving the devastating news, Owen asked his girlfriend, Sarah Jones, 21, with whom he’s had a two-year relationship to marry him at his bedside. On the 8th of March, at his Liverpool home, he was surrounded by friends and family, who arranged a wedding ceremony with live music, food and flowers.
Owen’s mother, Gill, said his best man Luke delivered “the most beautiful speech” she has heard in her life.
“It felt good to see my friends and hear my best man’s speech, who I asked to be my best man just the day before,” Owen said, adding “I’d been wanting to be on my game and speak to my friends online but because of Covid I couldn’t see him. So to get a speech from my best man in person was emotional for both of us.”
The tragic news came to Owen a little after he started getting horrendous headaches during the second lockdown in October last year.
And sadly, the doctors could not give him an appointment due to the coronavirus pandemic.
His mother said that it was only after she called two ambulances and Owen was brought to the hospital three times that he finally received a CT scan, which showed the lethal brain tumor.
Even though he went through radiotherapy and a number of surgeries, the tumor spread to his spine.
“I am staying positive and putting all my fight into this. I know there is no cure and the prognosis is bad but if I get told two weeks I’ll go for another week. I just want to feel better but it is what it is and we’ll deal with it,” the brave young man said.
The situation got critical on March 5, when doctors told the family that the tumor was pressing against Owen’s brain stem and causing a drop in his heart rate. The wedding was held three days after that.
The mother and family are now doing their best to raise awareness of brain cancer. Gill believes this specific area is not being funded well enough.
“I passionately believe there should be more funding into research for brain tumours. He and others who are suffering deserve this change to happen,’ she said.
‘While all cancers and illnesses are devastating, this is in a league of its own. It’s like wading through mud. Unlike other cancers, this was something I’d never heard of; the awareness is just not there,” she added.
Owen’s loved ones have also set up a GoFundMe page in support of him, which you can donate to by clicking here.
