A university student with just days left to live after being diagnosed with a brain tumour four months ago has ‘married’ his girlfriend in an emotional bedside service.
Owen Copland, 20, from Liverpool, suffered headaches for around a month before being diagnosed with the disease in November last year and undergoing a life-saving operation.
But after his tumour showed signs of growth earlier this month, doctors gave him an extremely bleak prognosis and with potentially only days to live, Owen said he wanted to wed his girlfriend of two years, Sarah Jones, 21.
The couple’s loved ones arranged a wedding in just two hours, and the bedside service, which was a commitment ceremony as opposed to a marriage in the eyes of the law, took place at his home on March 8.
Owen explained that he proposed to Sarah on February 25 after getting a second opinion about his condition and realising its severity.
He said: ‘When I came home I saw my girlfriend and said, “I want to marry you”.’
Owen’s best man Luke managed to attend the wedding with less than 24 hours notice and prepared ‘the most beautiful speech’ that Owen’s mother Gill, 54, said she had ever heard.
Owen (pictured before falling ill) suffered headaches for a month before being diagnosed with a brain tumour in November and he underwent a life-saving operation and radiotherapy
Owen started suffering from headaches during the second coronavirus lockdown in October last year while studying in his final year of university.
His mother Gill said she had tried to get a doctor’s appointment but was unable to due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Gill, it wasn’t until she had rung for two ambulances and taken Owen to hospital three times that he was given a CT scan and diagnosed with a brain lesion.
After the CT scan, Owen underwent an MRI, which revealed an aggressive type of brain tumour and on November 10, he underwent a six-hour lifesaving operation.
But further testing showed that the tumour was a Grade 4 Glioblastoma type, the most aggressive type, and an MRI at Liverpool’s Clatterbridge Cancer Centre revealed the tumour had spread to his spine.
Owen was given the tragic prognosis of an incurable tumour that could claim his life within a matter of days, but the student has remained positive throughout.
He explained: ‘I am staying positive and putting all my fight into this.