‘HE WAS MY LIFE, MY EVERYTHING’
Couple were together less than a year but widow says they treasured each moment
I T’S better to have loved for a short amount of time than go throughout life without having been loved at all – those were the poignant words Sioned Davies-Darby’s husband said to her shortly before he lost his battle with cancer.
Christian Darby, 49, was a PC for Dyfed-Powys Police. He was a trainer in the learning and development services and he met Sioned when she was working in the catering department.
The couple got together in September last year and they enjoyed spending time together at Christmas.
But in January Christian started to feel unwell and after seeing doctors in February he discovered he had two growths in his colon.
A short while later he was told the cancer had spread to his lungs and liver and the illness was terminal.
Sioned, from Llanelli, said: “We did get together pretty quickly. My family took to him like a duck to water – and vice versa. We were a family.”
Even though Christian knew the illness was terminal he didn’t want to know how long he had left to live.
Instead the couple aimed to make every second count.
Sioned said they went away to Cardiff to see The Commitments in April.
“He asked me to marry him in front of 4,000 people at the Wales Millennium Centre.
“I thought I saw him collapsing so I ran towards him but he told me he didn’t want to get up. He then took a box from his pocket and it had a Haribo ring inside it.”
Sioned described how the couple had a very intimate wedding at a register office.
Only 12 people attended the service and not many people knew about it as Christian had his first round of chemotherapy the day after the ceremony.
But three weeks later, in May, the couple surprised their family and friends with a wedding blessing after telling invited guests the event was organised to celebrate Sioned’s 30th birthday.
Sioned said: “I turned up in my wedding dress and Christian in his suit. “He danced all night.” The couple were particularly pleased that police chaplain Tom Evans conducted the blessing. Sioned explained he had become “a great friend” and was now considered a part of the family.
Sadly Christian lost his battle with cancer in August.
The couple spent less than a year together but widow Sioned said they had truly treasured every moment.
Sioned said: “I can talk about him all day and not get upset because it’s memories but when I start thinking about myself that’s when it starts to hit home.
“He used to say it’s better to have loved for a short amount of time than go throughout life without having been loved at all.
“We had a short amount of time together but there was so much love there. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”
She added: “Christian is very much missed and has left a big hole in our lives. I love him so much and wish we’d have had more time. “He was my life, my everything.” Sioned also spoke of how Christian formed a great bond with her nine-yearold daughter Ffion. She said they were like “two peas in a pod” and she couldn’t have asked for them to get along any better.
“They loved each other so much,” Sioned added. “Ffion would do anything and everything for Christian and he was ever so proud of her and the way she handled everything.”
Sioned also thanked her family and friends for their continued support as well as officers at Dyfed-Powys Police.