Cancer mum's wedding story

A MUM of two with incurable bone cancer has described getting the chance to have her young daughters as her bridesmaids as “a blessing”.

Claire Davis celebrated renewing her wedding vows with husband of ten years Sean on Saturday, with her two daughters, Lucy (5) and Emma (8), as bridesmaids alongside her nieces Katie and Hannah Robson.

Thanking her friend Cheryl O’Carroll for organising the big day, Claire, of Wickersley, said she had “given us a special memory that will stay with our family forever”.

Claire (42) was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in July 2012 and discovered it had spread her spine a year ago.

She had had eight courses of chemotherapy and four weeks of radiotherapy along with a double mastectomy and surgery to remove her lymph nodes and ovaries.

But she was told the cancer had spread and she now had incurable bone metastasis.

As Claire and Sean’s tenth wedding anniversary approached, their thoughts turned towards renewing their vows in front their whole family.

But Claire could never have imagined that Cheryl O’Carroll, a fellow parent from her daughter's school would work tirelessly without her knowledge to organise the whole event.

Claire said: “Cheryl has given us a special memory that will stay with my husband and children, family and friends forever and that is a beautiful and reassuring thing for me.

“I may not be here to see my daughters be brides, so to see them as bridesmaids really does mean the world.

“I got to know Cheryl from her company Ruby’s Adorables when I organised a ladies’ charity night to raise money for Breast Cancer Care.

“Cheryl had a stall at the event and since then I have supported her business through buying handbags from her.

“On a recent visit to one of her open days, Cheryl caught me trying on a tiara.

“She asked me what I was doing that for as I’ve been married ten years, and I told her that under the circumstances Sean and I were thinking of renewing our vows

“It was left at that, we didn’t speak about it again and I had not really thought any more about it.

“Cheryl rang me a few weeks later and said she wanted to speak to me — I thought she was ill to start off with.

“It turns out she had taken it upon herself without my knowledge to organise the renewal and use her contacts in the business.

“I was shocked at first, then overwhelmed to think that Cheryl had gone to all this trouble.

“Once I had thought about it, I was quite humbled, we are just ordinary people who, like many others, have had their lives turned upside down through cancer and it is so kind and generous of everyone to contribute to our day.

“Cheryl has been the driving force behind this, she has been the one organising and getting in touch with people.

“I was given the nice task of choosing colour schemes and organising our ceremony with our vicar, Revd Lyn Wortley.

“It also gave me an excuse to go shopping for dresses for our girls and myself.”

Claire described the generosity of the 20-plus companies who had contributed everything from transport and fireworks to stationery and make-up as “a complete blessing to us both”.

She added: “It has created some beautiful memories that we are truly grateful for and can only offer our heartfelt thanks to them all.”

Cheryl used her contacts in the industry to get the renewal of Claire and Sean's wedding vows for free, with most of the companies being based in South Yorkshire.

Cheryl said: “When I saw Claire trying on the tiara, I thought if I can't do something to make this happen there would be something wrong.

“So I started to get in touch with some contacts I have in the industry, and it just snowballed from there really.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has made this possible, especially Carlton Park Hotel for providing us with the venue.”

Among the companies helping out were Inspired by Me; Lee Jon, Wedding Singer & DJ; Millies Florist; Amanda’s Cakes; Ashley Rogers Tailors; Creative Images Photography; Video & Memories; Sparkle & Shine; Made by Hol Stationery; Tyson Limousines; Traditionally Iconic Aston Martin Cars; Abbey Clayton Make-Up; Sparkle ‘n’ Shine Weddings; Photobooth4You; Fuse Fireworks; Alexandra Parker Violinist; PA Jewellery;

Cocoa Chic Handmade Chocolates; Patsy the Clown; Millionhair & The Beauty Lounge; Sweetdreams Candy Cart; Costco; Morrison’s; Percy Turners Pork Pies and Emma Jarvis — Nails at House of S.