Couple’s joy turns to sorrow as groom dies just days after wedding

A devastated wife has shared the heart-wrenching story of her husband’s tragic death just days after their wedding.

Diane and Paul Hodgson, who had been together for a decade, tied the knot in their Manchester home in what Diane describes as the “best day of my life.” Just months before, Paul had received a shocking cancer diagnosis that left them both reeling.

Paul, 56, started feeling unwell around Christmas when he noticed excessive burping, dark urine, loose stools, and back pain. The tiler sought medical advice and underwent blood and stool tests, but nothing alarming was found.

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However, during a week-long holiday to Egypt, Paul’s health took a turn for the worse. Upon returning, his GP noticed his skin had started to yellow – a change that had gone unnoticed due to his holiday tan, reports the Mirror.

Despite the worrying symptoms, Paul was simply asked to return the following week for more blood tests. But Diane, alarmed by her husband’s rapidly deteriorating condition, rushed him to A&E.

There, a CT scan revealed a mass on his pancreas, and further tests confirmed it was pancreatic cancer. Paul underwent surgery to remove the cancer on March 1 and was allowed to go home 12 days later. However, follow-up scans showed the cancer had already spread.

He managed one round of chemotherapy at The Christie Hospital but tragically became too ill to continue the treatment. In an emotional recount to the Manchester Evening News, Diane, 59, shared the couple’s decision to marry at their home on June 13, calling it the “perfect day”. Tragically, Paul passed away just five days later.

Diane was by his side, grappling with the rapid progression of his illness: “The cancer had spread so badly, it was just so quick. He was so strong.”

She continued, detailing her struggle with hope and reality as someone who works for the NHS: “I knew it would be a bad outcome from day one because I work for the NHS, but I kept reading and hoping that he would live for a bit longer. But after the operation, he was getting thinner and thinner. I was trying to feed him and he could hardly eat small portions.”

Paul’s resilience in his final days was heart-wrenching, as Diane described: “He was just clinging on to everything. He never said he was in pain but he was in pain. In the last few days, he said, ‘I’ve only got a few days left.'” Remembered for his zest for life, Paul was a man who loved scuba diving, music, and Liverpool FC.

Diane also spoke about their special wedding day: “We wanted to get married and had to get a special license to marry at home because he wasn’t well enough. Our house was full of love, you could feel it. We’ve got such special friends and family. We had a cake from Slattery’s and two young girls came and did my hair and makeup.”

The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in The Christie as Paul’s health deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t stay at home. Tragically, he passed away just a few days later.

“We just watched telly and he slept for quite a lot of it,” Diane shared. “I just knew he wasn’t coming home. I sat him on the chair because he was uncomfortable and agitated. I said I would ring the nurses because he had some pain and I just knew.”

“I pulled the buzzer and they told me to hold his hand and talk to him. I didn’t cry, I just said, ‘You’ve been so brave, darling, it’s time to have a rest now. I just held his hand and talked to him and stroked his hair. “I loved him so much,” Diane said, breaking down in tears. “He was so beautiful.”

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