Bride Kate, 29, dies days after wedding
It was Kate Wiggin's dying wish to marry the love of her life after she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer which left her with just weeks to live.
And the brave mother-of-two saw that wish granted just three days before she died.
Kate, whose maiden name was Cleaver, asked her family to arrange the white wedding to Gary Wiggin after she was given the devastating news.
And after doctors said her condition was deteriorating rapidly, her heartbroken relatives pulled out all the stops to ensure she could have her big day.
Kate, aged 29, and Gary, 32, had been together for 13 years, and on March 6, their daughter Mollie's eighth birthday, they said 'I do' in a moving ceremony at The Village Hotel in Walsall.
Arriving in a wheelchair, Kate, of Awlmakers Grove, Leamore, got her last wish with Mollie and son Lewis, who turned 10 today, looking on.
Today her devastated mother Janet Cleaver revealed that Kate was only diagnosed with the disease last month.
"Katie was having stomach trouble for a while, but at first the doctors thought it was symptoms of gallstones, then a bacterial infection," she said. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer on February 13.
Mrs Cleaver added: "She found a lump on her side and the nurse at the GP's referred her to the hospital. Then these lumps started to pop up all over her skin, they looked like little peas. It was a rare form of cancer and aggressive.
"She was very brave and wouldn't allow us to cry when we were around her. I've never seen anyone as strong as her.
"She didn't drink or smoke. She lived for her children and for Gary. She was wonderful daughter, wife and mother who would do anything for anybody. She was always helping out at Christchurch Primary School where the children attend and doing things for charity."
Mrs Cleaver, aged 54, said her daughter was determined to say her vows during the wedding ceremony.
She added: "The wedding was lovely. There was an ambulance on standby with a team because they were worried she would be too weak.
"She couldn't walk, and used a wheelchair, but she was determined to say her vows despite struggling to catch her breath." Mrs Cleaver thanked the hospice and the businesses who stepped in to help arrange the ceremony within a few weeks.
"Everyone was brilliant on the day, the hotel rolled out a red carpet, and the photographer processed the images within 24 hours so she that could see them," she said.
Kate, a former pupil of the old TP Riley School in Bloxwich and Green Rock Primary, in Blakenall, where she grew up, died on March 9 at Walsall St Giles Hospice, just 72 hours after the wedding. She was surrounded by her family and listening to the Katy Perry and John Mayer ballad Who You Love. Kate is also survived by her father Tony, aged 57.
Around 600 mourners attended her funeral last Friday at Christ Church, Blakenall Heath.
There will be series of fundraising events in memory of Kate, including a sponsored walk this Saturday that will see 60 family and friends walk from Cannock to Bloxwich. To find out more about donating email her cousin at lisamccarthy71@hot mail.com
