Couple donate £1,000 to NHS and renew wedding vows after cancer scare

Karen and Barry Palmer, who both work for the Trust, decided to celebrate their ruby anniversary along with a surprise renewal of their wedding vows.

Instead of presents, they asked for donations from the 95 guests attending the ceremony, at the Park Hall Hotel and Spa in Wolverhampton, to support care for breast cancer patients.

Diagnosed following a routine mammogram last August 2021, Karen had surgery to remove the cancerous tissue as a day case in October 2021 before undergoing five sessions of radiotherapy.

She recently had another mammogram which thankfully came back all clear.

“My cancer showed up on a routine mammogram but I’d always checked myself and couldn’t find anything, so it just shows how important it is to have your mammogram,” said Karen.

Karen, a biomedical scientist in cytology, had all her treatment at New Cross Hospital and was delighted with the care she received.

“From day one, the minute I was diagnosed, I was seen quickly and the care I received was fantastic,” said Karen, who has worked for the Trust for 23 years.

“A huge thank you too to the pathologists and laboratory staff for diagnosing me so promptly, and to the staff at Cannock Chase Hospital, where I had my mammogram and biopsies taken.

“The breast care service was brilliant too – there were a couple of times where I rang up and asked questions and they were really prompt in getting back to me.”

Relieved at Karen’s treatment and recovery, the couple arranged to renew their wedding vows, telling only sons Jonathan and Daniel, and Jonathan’s fiancée Sophie, with the rest of the invited guests thinking they had been invited to an anniversary party.

The date for the renewal was August 12 – almost exactly a year after Karen’s diagnosis – and virtually 40 years since they tied the knot, on August 14, 1982 at St Thomas’s Church Wednesfield, the day after Karen’s 21st birthday.

For their vow renewal, the couple presented each other with new rings, Karen’s naturally containing a ruby stone, before they departed on a second honeymoon – a cruise around the Mediterranean.

“We set up a post box at the party for people to make donations and we thought we might raise £200 to £300, so didn’t expect anything like we received,” said Barry, a Clinical Technologist in Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering at New Cross Hospital.

Collections were also made in their respective workplaces, which went towards the total.

The ceremony also helped raise awareness. “Some relatives and friends of mine had been putting off going for their mammograms, but they’ve now decided to get screened,” said Karen.

Karen and Barry surprised their guests at their ceremony by taking to the floor to dance to Ellie Goulding’s ‘How Long Will I Love You?’ following 15 hours of ballroom dance lessons under the tuition of dance instructor Linda Reaney, who works with Barry in Medical Physics at the Trust.

Sadly, breast cancer runs in Karen’s family. Her mum Ida Jones, now 86, underwent a lumpectomy (removal of cancerous breast tissue) at New Cross 27 years ago, and had a mastectomy following a second bout of breast cancer.

Two of Ida’s sisters also had the disease and although Doris survived, sadly, the eldest, Jane died.

“When I was first diagnosed, I was in floods of tears and thought it was the end of the world,” added Karen. “Our eldest son Jonathan was due to get married in August 2022 and I didn’t think I’d be here for that or perhaps not have my hair, so I had a lot of negative thoughts.

“Then I looked at my mum who overcame breast cancer and is still going strong at 86, I realised there is hope. But I couldn’t have got through it without Barry.

“Since this has happened, I’m a lot more chilled about things. You just have to cherish every day and every moment of your life.”

The couple, who live on Coppice Farm, met when their families attended a New Year’s Eve party at the Chubb Sports and Social Club in Heath Town in 1977 when Karen was 16 and Barry 19, and they became a couple on January 11, 1978.

Some 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK and yet 41 per cent of women don’t check their breasts.

Caroline Jones, consultant nurse in breast cancer, said: “We are delighted to receive such a generous donation. Hopefully this story will encourage everyone to be breast and chest aware and always report anything new or usual to their GP.”

Amanda Winwood, charity development manager, said: “It’s wonderful Karen has recovered and we’re thrilled at the lovely gesture Karen and Barry have made to breast cancer patients.

“It’s important to highlight that both men and women should check their breasts and chests and report any changes.”