Hospice wedding for great-grandmother with terminal cancer

A great-grandmother with terminal cancer has tied the know with her partner of 21 years in a ceremony at a hospice in Leeds.

Sandra, 74, and Billy Finlay, 77, were married over Easter Weekend at the Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice where Mrs Finlay, with lung cancer, is being cared for.

The couple, who have 10 children and 53 grandchildren and great-grandchildren between them, decided to formalise their partnership last Friday.

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Staff at the hospice were able to organise a wedding within 24 hours, and the couple’s family say it was an emotional day when they all joined them for the celebrations.

“It was a beautiful day,” said Mr Finlay. “I don’t have words to describe it, it was out of this world.

“The staff are incredible, they do everything they can to help. We had all our family with us and they prepared so many things for all of us, and they don’t want anything for it.

“To anyone who might be concerned about their loved ones coming to the hospice, I can only recommend it, they are wonderful.”

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David Buck, spiritual care co-ordinator at the hospice who helped organise the wedding, said: “We always try our very best to support those who come into our care in whatever way we can. When a patient says that they want to get married we know that is something special and staff respond with sensitivity.

“It is good to know that someone’s wishes have been fulfilled and it is lovely when we can celebrate that at a marriage.

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