I married my husband on his deathbed... 48 hours later I was a widow

A woman wed her husband in hospital just 48 hours before he died — after the couple's life was 'turned upside down' by his diagnosis with a fatal lung disease.

Mike Reynolds, 51, married his partner of eight years Lara, 38, from Cornwall, in a poignant ceremony organised by the bride in just one day.

The delivery driver suffered from breathlessness for five months before doctors discovered pulmonary fibrosis — which causes scarring in the lungs — in May.

Mike was hospitalised in August and just days after tying to knot in September, surrounded by close friends and family, Lara was facing life as a widow. 

Describing the wedding as 'heartbreakingly beautiful' she said: 'It was what we'd always wanted to do — we just thought we had more time.'

Mr Reynolds had been struggling with breathlessness in January this year, and began the long process to find the cause.

At first, doctors suspected a chest infection, but the couple kept pushing.

After multiple appointments, they still had no answers — with one doctor even suggesting that the symptoms might be a result of anxiety.

On 8 May, after seeing both private and NHS doctors, Mr Reynolds was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis — which affects 70,000 people living in the UK. 

'They initially signed him off because they thought it was a chest infection,' Ms Reynolds said.  

'One doctor asked if he thought it was all just in his head, and asked if he'd tried yoga.

'It was a very emotional time. He was struggling to do normal things, but he was also still working, still active, and still Mike.

'When he was diagnosed, our world turned upside down.' 

Mr Reynolds continued to attend doctors appointments and receive treatments available, whilst he and Ms Reynolds continued to make the most of their time together.

After his health declined drastically in August, Mr Reynolds was hospitalised for three weeks, before returning to hospital just one week after release.

'We got some little oxygen tanks — we called them Ghostbusters tanks — and we changed our lives,' Ms Reynolds said. 

WHAT IS PULMONARY FIBROSIS?

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred and breathing becomes increasingly difficult.

It's not clear what causes it, but it usually affects people around 70-75 years of age and is rare in people under 50.

Several treatments can help reduce the rate at which IPF gets worse, but there's currently no treatment that can stop or reverse the scarring of the lungs.

The symptoms of IPF tend to develop gradually and get slowly worse over time.

Symptoms can include:

• Shortness of breath
• A persistent dry cough
• Tiredness
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Rounded and swollen fingertips also called clubbed fingers 

There is no cure and it's very difficult to predict how long someone with IPF will survive at the time of diagnosis.

Regular monitoring over time can indicate whether it's getting worse quickly or slowly.

Source: NHS Choices

'We were careful to not be around large groups of people to avoid infection. We changed how we did everything,' she added.

She said: 'We were doing alright — we'd planned to go away in May; we'd planned to do a lot of things. He couldn't fly anymore, but we could drive, so we went on driving trips.

'Then the 28 August hit us, and he was just grey. I had to call 999 and rush him into hospital, and he was there for three weeks.

'He was released on the Monday, and he had one whole week at home. He could barely walk up or down the stairs - it was very traumatic for him.

'We decided to get him back to hospital, and then he got worse.'

Finding comfort in speaking to the hospital chaplain, Mike began discussing his final goal — to marry Ms Reynolds.

Ms Reynolds immediately began planning an intimate ceremony in the hospital, surrounded by their closest family and friends.

'He spoke to the chaplain and found a lot of comfort in that,' she said.

'He mentioned that we were supposed to get married, but didn't, and the chaplain said he could make it happen.

'Mike was adamant that it was happening. The chaplain said it could happen in 24 hours; it was happening in 24 hours.

'I had 24 hours to organise our wedding. I did it, and then at 2pm on 27 September, we were married.

'It was beautiful; it was upsetting. It wasn't what either of us wanted, but we had family and friends there.

'His best friend said it perfectly — you don't need all of the fancy dresses and hundreds of people, it's about love.

'Our wedding was about pure love. It was what we'd always wanted to do — we just thought we had more time.

'It was hard and it was emotional, but it was our day.'

On 29 September 2024, Mr Reynolds passed away.

Ms Reynolds now hopes to share their story to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis and urge anyone experiencing breathing issues to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Pulmonary fibrosis causes scar tissue to form in the lungs, which makes the lungs less stretchy and stiff. This can make sufferers feel short of breath.

Common symptoms of the disease also include a dry cough, tiredness and unexplained weight loss 

It can also cause clubbing of the fingers and toes, which is when they become swollen and rounded at the tips, according to Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis. 

It's not clear what causes it, but it usually affects people around 70 to 75 years of age and is rare in people under 50.

Several treatments can help reduce the rate at which pulmonary fibrosis gets worse, but there's currently no treatment that can stop or reverse the scarring of the lungs.

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'He didn't get to shout it from the rooftops that I was his wife — that's all he wanted,' Ms Reynolds said looking back on her wedding day. 

'From the moment that he got diagnosed to the day that he died was four and a half months — and nobody knows what pulmonary fibrosis is.

'Friends and family thought he would be alright, that it was only a lung disease. I don't think anybody except for me and Mike knew how serious this actually was.

'The average time after diagnosis is 2-5 years, but we'd heard of people that have had it for 10 years. He had hope that he was going to live until he was 60.'

Looking back on his diagnosis Ms Reynolds wishes the doctors knew more about pulmonary fibrosis and had checked for crackling sounds in his lungs — a sign of the disease.

'We might have been a couple of months ahead and he could have been put on different drugs or put on the transplant list,' Ms Reynolds said. 

'I don't want another family to go through what we're going through right now. It shouldn't be like this.

'Take things seriously, listen to your body, and keep pushing for help.

'I constantly had to fight for Mike and to try and get people to listen to us.

'We did get answers, just a little bit too late.'