‘I WON’T LET CANCER STOP MY WEDDING’
AWOMAN paralysed by cancer has spoken of her determination to walk down the aisle and marry the love of her life. Emily McDermott, 23, is recovering after discovering she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma – when she thought she had a bad back.
And the tumour on her spine grew so massive that she lost the use of her legs.
Now as her recovery continues, thanks to an intensive course of physiotherapy, Emily is to marry fiancé Olly Hughes, 24.
The couple met in the army while based in Southampton and have been together since February 2016.
Military police officer Emily, from Wrexham, explained that she thought the chronic back pain she was suffering was a work-related injury.
But a trip to the hospital in November with Olly, her mum Sue, 51, and dad Ian, 56, revealed a series of issues that the soldier had been completely unaware of: “I’d been suffering from a bad back since last year but, being in the army, they put it down to a training injury. It would come and go.
“I went to A&E, just to see what they said. They did an X-ray of the top half of my body and they said they could see fluid in my lungs. He asked if I had cancer in the family. Then the doctor felt my neck, and asked how long I’d had the lumps there. I didn’t even know I had lumps in my neck.
“At that point, they told me to come back on Monday for some checks. We went back home that night, and my legs started to feel weird. I just thought it was a trapped nerve. But when I went into the hospital as planned on the Monday for blood tests, they recommended I stay in, and that’s when it all started.
“It wasn’t as much of a shock as it was a relief. It was a relief to know what was actually going on.”
Her relief was short-lived. Emily’s condition quickly worsened. Further tests revealed a large tumour at the base of her spine.
“I woke up on the Tuesday morning and I couldn’t walk. The doctors sent me for an urgent MRI scan. Later that day they said it was cancer – Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”
Due to the size of the tumour, medics rushed to begin aggressive treatment, aiming to reduce the mass and allow the Wrexham bride-to-be to use her legs again.
“I had five lots of radiotherapy straight away to reduce the mass on my spine. They wanted to shrink it so I could walk again. Then they started me on chemotherapy. I had 12 rounds.
“I was lucky, I was only ill with the treatment once. Most of the time I just had a sore mouth and was tired.”
Although she dealt with the sideeffects of the treatment well, Emily was devastated to lose her long hair. She has a specially styled wig ready for the wedding.
“I lost my hair. Once it started falling out, it was itching so much. So once I’d got a wig sorted, I just got the girls round and we shaved the lot off.
“I won’t leave the house now without a full face of make-up on. Once I’ve got my eyebrows and eyelashes on I’m sorted.”
Emily endured intense physio sessions to help her achieve her dream of walking down the aisle. Her determination has paid off, as she is back on her own two feet.
“I was unable to walk for weeks. I’ve been having physiotherapy at the Maelor (Wrexham) where I was started on a sort of Zimmer frame, then onto crutches.
“I am back walking unaided but I do go off on a tangent sometimes, veering left or right. But I’m slowly getting there.
“The hospitals have been amazing. Wrexham Maelor have been brilliant. Everyone was so nice and really supportive.”
Wedding planning has kept the ex-Rhosnesni School student busy, with Emily attributing her strength and motivation to the big day.
“Planning my wedding has kept me motivated through all of this. Both my mum and Olly said we could postpone it to a later date but I said that during treatment it would give me something to aim for.
“Because we were living away, my mum was having to sort everything out, but one silver lining of me having to come back to Wrexham is that the wedding planning has kept me busy and taken my mind off things.”
Emily has since been given the all-clear and is now ready to say her vows in front of 80 guests at Llyndir Hall in Rosset. Following the big day, she will move back to Southampton with Olly and return to her career in the military.
“I’ve been given the all-clear now. It’s a huge weight of my mind.
“I’ve got a few things I need to do before I go back in the army but they have been brilliant, they have been coming to see me every two weeks. I’ve got to do a couple of courses to get me back on track then I’ll be returning full time as a military police officer.
“Once we get married I can move back down with him. I can’t wait. We’ve been through so much.”