‘This was the big day that mum had planned’
Sarah Dawson “m a r r i e d ” teenage sweetheart Mark at her mum Rosanne’s bedside after being warned by doctors she only had hours to live.
The 51- year- old passed away two days later from an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.
On Thursday – nine months on – Sarah and Mark made their marriage official in a touching ceremony in the Perthshire village of Comrie.
The happy couple were surrounded by family and friends who have supported them since Rosanne’s death.
“This was the big day mum had planned for us,” said mum-of-two Sarah, 23, from Tillicoultr y, Clackmannanshire.
“It broke our hearts that she was not there for the official ceremony but she was very much with us in spirit.
“I am so glad we arranged to be blessed by her hospital bedside just two days before she passed away last year.
“We knew time was running out and how much she wanted to be with us on our big day.”
Sarah and Mark had originally planned to get married this summer but brought forward the date to October 31 last year when Rosanne took ill.
When she then took a turn for the worse they realised even that would be too late.
So, in the space of just four hours, they hastily arranged for their nuptials to take place in Rosanne’s hospital bedroom.
The ceremony was a blessing and not legally binding.
Rosanne was at the forefront of Sarah and Mark’s minds when their hands were tied together with a tartan bind to seal their love on Thursday.
“Everything felt just perfect at that moment,” said Mark, 23.
“I know Rosanne would have approved.”
Prior to the wedding Sarah’s
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Our coverage. SARAH DAWSON and her fiancé Mark Barlow caught the attention of newspaper editors across the world when they took their wedding vows at her dying mum’s bedside.
The emotive image of them fulfilling mum Rosanne’s last wish – first carried on the front page of The Sunday Post – was reprinted in the likes of Denmark, Nigeria and the US.
“We learned on a Friday evening last October that mum would not last the weekend,” recalled Sarah.
“I woke the next morning and planned a ceremony for her bedside in Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
“It meant getting my wedding dress from the bridal shop, borrowing shoes, a veil and tiara and getting the whole family assembled in just four hours.
“I contacted the hospital chaplain who agreed to bless us by mum’s bedside.
“She smiled as we arrived and I knew instantly that I had done exactly as she wanted.”
Nurses made an archway for couple as they approached Rosanne’s bedside.