Bride-to-be loses battle with brain cancer on day before wedding
SHE knew she had just a few precious months to live, but Anna Swabey was determined to have the wedding she’d dreamed of.
Today would have been that happy day, marrying boyfriend Andy Bell in the Yorkshire Dales before 160 family and friends.
But tragically the girl who fought so bravely to keep her cancer at bay finally succumbed to it in the hours when she should have been putting the finishing touches to her nuptials.
Her family yesterday paid tribute to the 25year-old on Facebook, writing: ‘I cannot put into words the heartbreak we all feel, but amongst our sadness, we are so proud of her courage, her spirit and the determination she showed throughout her illness.
‘If ever there was a person to show us how to live, it’s Anna Louise Swabey, our beautiful, brave girl.’
Miss Swabey received the devastating news that she had up to three years to live in January last year after suffering a seizure at home in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.
She had been enjoying a fulfilling career as a customer services manager after graduating with a first class degree in languages and European studies. A hospital MRI scan showed she had a brain tumour. A biopsy later revealed it was malignant and stage three — the second most advanced stage of cancer, meaning it was large and fast-growing.
Weeks later, Miss Swabey started a blog, Inside my Head, and began fundraising. Writing about her hopes for the future, her first post said: ‘I want to defy my prognosis, I WILL live till I am old, I WILL get married and I WILL have children and I WILL have the life I have always dreamt of! But, I am by no means naive, and I understand it’s going to be very tough and some compromises will no doubt have to be made.
‘I want to make a difference in the world and leave a mark. Now this issue is so close to my heart, I want to raise awareness about brain tumours and the devastating affects they can have on people’s lives.’
She also began internet dating, which is how she met Mr Bell, an engineer, who lived nearby in Newcastle. After a week of messaging, Mr Bell asked to meet which is when Miss Swabey revealed she was battling terminal cancer.
Mr Bell, 26, said in an interview in July: ‘I could see from her profile picture Anna was absolutely beautiful, and her messages had been so witty and funny, I couldn’t wait to meet her in the flesh.
‘It was then she dropped the bombshell that just a month before, she’d suffered a massive seizure and been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. She texted saying: “I’ve only got three years to live. I’ll understand if you don’t want to meet up.”’ But Mr Bell, an electrical maintenance engineer, insisted he still wanted to meet. He said: ‘People have asked me why I went on that first date, knowing Anna was so sick. I know I could have walked away at that point, but I didn’t want to. It wasn’t to do with feeling sorry for her, and taking her on a “pity date” – something she’s told me she was worried about at first – I felt really drawn to her. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t meet her.’ He added: ‘I would do anything to swap places with her and take the pain and fear away for her.’
They became a couple within days of meeting. and Mr Bell was at Miss Swabey’s bedside as she recovered from brain surgery weeks later. And, in December last year, he proposed with a solitaire diamond ring.
They had planned to wed today but Miss Swabey’s condition deteriorated and she died at home yesterday. In her one-and-a-half-year battle with cancer, Miss Swabey helped raise almost £80,000 for the Brain Tumour Research Campaign.
Paying tribute to the inspirational fundraiser, Wendy Fulcher, the charity’s founder, said: ‘Bright, vivacious, kind, and beautiful, Anna was one of those to whom others are naturally drawn.’
To donate to Anna’s fundraising page, please visit: justgiving. com/InsideMyHead