Oldbury palliative care patient says “I do” to partner of 42 years
This is the emotional moment end-of-life patient Carol Elizabeth Lee said “I do” to her partner of 42 years Philip Stanley Pettit from her hospital bed.
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The couple tied the knot at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick where Carol, who has inoperable stomach cancer, was being cared for.
Fighting back tears, Carol, aged 75, from Oldbury, said: “Philip always wanted to get married. It’s the one thing I can do for him before I die.”
Shortly after the ceremony, she said: “It was the best day of my life. I was strangely nervous in the morning but I’m happy now.”
Philip, aged 73, added: “I feel like the luckiest man in the world and I should have done this 40 years ago. She looks so beautiful.”
The pair met whilst out with friends one night. Carol, who worked as a secretary at City Hospital, Birmingham and then at Barclays Bank, recalled: “We were at a little club and we had a dance and got on really well.
“We lived together but never really thought about getting married – we were very happy together.”
Jo Clews, Palliative Care Nurse, said: “Making sure our palliative patients are cared for compassionately and with respect is so important to us. That’s why we have pulled out all the stops in making this wedding between Carol and Philip happen. It was her main wish to get married and we were able to play the song ‘Loving You’ before the ceremony.
“It’s been so touching and we are glad that we were able to support something so important to them both, surrounded by their family and friends.”
Since the wedding took place, Carol has been moved to a hospice to live out her final weeks.
