Chesterfield woman marries 'love of her life' after being told she may not live to see July wedding day

Claire Sivorn learned in October last year that she may only have months left to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The 55-year-old and her fiancé of three years, Craig Sivorn, 57, were looking forward to their dream wedding, which was set to take place in Edinburgh this July.

Sadly, just one-month after they had put their plans in motion, Claire received the shock phone call that confirmed her reoccurring backache was secondary cancer of the spine.

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When staff from Ashgate Hospicecare learned of the couple’s wish to be married, they immediately offered their support, helping them to secure an earlier date at the town’s register office.

The charity also helped to organise the wedding flowers and booked one of their volunteer professional photographers to capture the special day for free.

Claire said that the support she had received from Ashgate Hospicecare had been ‘amazing’ and went ‘above and beyond any expectation you could have’.

“Nothing can prepare you for finding out you have a terminal diagnosis; it was like an out of body experience,” she said.

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"Even worse was receiving the cancer diagnosis over the phone as Covid restrictions meant people were being encouraged to stay away from the hospital.

“Just like that all your plans and dreams are gone, your future is stolen right in front of your eyes.

"But despite all that I knew I couldn’t just lay around waiting for it to happen, I had to get on with living and that included marrying Craig, the love of my life.”

On April 9, with their four closest friends in attendance, the couple were married at Chesterfield’s register office. Following the ceremony, the newlyweds joined their four children, from their previous marriages, in the garden of the home they share.

Claire said: “The help and support from Ashgate Hospicecare has been phenomenal, we are grateful for their assistance in providing the beautiful flowers and lovely photographs.

"Along with our family and friends they helped make our day one to remember.”

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