Wife’s tribute to late husband, 33
COUPLE MARRIED TWO WEEKS BEFORE HIS DEATH
A HEARTBROKEN wife has paid tribute to her ‘kind, gentle and loving’ husband who died two weeks after the couple married at his bedside.
Gavin Donnelly, 33, died of cancer on September 3, at 10.18pm. He had recently been told he had two months left to live after learning the cancer had spread to his pelvis, as well as his right leg, lung, bowel, liver, and spleen.
After learning of his diagnosis, Gavin and his partner Caroline vowed to make the most of the little time they had left. They married at their Silksworth home by Gavin’s bedside on August 19, surrounded by loved ones.
Now Caroline has paid tribute to her husband. The 25-year-old said: “He was so down to earth and he was always there for everyone. If someone needed help, Gavin would be there straight away, that’s the type of person he was.”
She added: “The grief hasn’t hit me yet because I keep thinking he’s in hospital and he’s going to come back home. I just keep thinking he’s going to come home.”
Caroline explained that the couple, who got engaged in March and had originally planned to get married next year, had been almost inseparable since they met in September 2020.
Gavin was diagnosed with a sarcoma in his left leg four years ago but received the all-clear after going through chemotherapy.
In December, he started experiencing pain in his right leg and a month later, he went to the doctors and a number of scans revealed the cancer had returned. Gavin was told he had cancer in his right leg.
However, he didn’t start chemotherapy until April as he had to endure three operations due to a blockage in his bowel, as well as developing infections, and then catching Covid-19.
Caroline, who became his full-time carer, said that ‘fighter’ Gavin had been bed-bound in his final weeks.
But she added: “Three days before he passed away the nurses said he wasn’t going to make it to the end of the night, but he held on and held on.
“He waited until I held his hand and then he passed. He was unresponsive but before he went he managed to wake up and tell me he loved me.”