A patient with terminal kidney cancer had his wish of marrying his partner of 49 years come true during lockdown.

Frank Keenan and Lynne Mather of Port St Mary officially tied the knot in the Hospice Isle of Man’s Day Unit conservatory in front of loved ones who watched on at a safe distance.

The couple received special permission from the Bishop to hold the service, with the Hospice’s pastoral and chaplaincy team arranging for Reverend Canon Joe Heaton, vicar of Rushen, to officiate the ceremony.

Lynne said: ’The day was just wonderful. The Hospice, Robinson’s and everyone who contributed were amazing.’

The big day was organised by her daughter, Leanne Moore, with the help of others, including her sister Jacqui Keenan who lives in Cornwall.

Leanne said: ’Without the Hospice and Reverend Heaton this wedding would not have happened. I cannot thank them enough.

’The Hospice go above and beyond for people. They not only look after their patients, but the patients’ families too.’

She added that the team have really helped her family during a ’difficult’ time by providing home care and more.

’Dad was taken to hospital on April 19 and two days later he was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer, which had spread to his lungs,’ Leanne said.

’It’s been hard to process and because of the pandemic I couldn’t hug my dad or my mum. That was the hardest part.’

For the wedding celebrations, Leanne got her parents’ neighbours to come out into the street to wave and cheer at them, including the Speaker of the House of Keys, Juan Watterson.

celebration

The neighbours also put on an afternoon tea in celebration.

During the ceremony, Lynne was given away by her 11-year-old son grandson, Jacob Moore. It was a ’very proud’ moment for Jacob, Leanne said.

Lynne’s son Alex also attended along with Frank’s brother, Niall, and his sister-in-law, Pauline. Photos were taken by Boakesey Boakes, Leanne’s friend Voirrey Sayle covered video footage of the event, flowers were prepared by The Flower Studio and the wedding cake was created by friend, Rea Griffiths.

A Hospice spokesman said: ’At Hospice Isle of Man it is our aim to support people to live well their way to the end of their life, so when our terminally-ill patient Frank was given a short period of time in which he would still be here, he expressed how he wished to marry Lynne, his partner of 49 years.

’This was a wish we simply had to grant.

’We arranged for our on-site catering team to prepare an exquisite wedding buffet, our pastoral and chaplaincy team organised for the officiating of the marriage and some local florists and event specialists kindly assisted in providing decorations for the ceremony.

’Our housekeeping team were also fantastic in cleaning the facilities before and after, as well as supporting with decorating the building to give it a beautiful wedding venue feel and look.’

The conservatory, which was chosen as the chapel is currently being refurbished, was deep cleaned. Everyone attending was also asked to use the on-site hand sanitising facilities.

The spokesman added: ’Social distancing is incredibly important at the moment, and in order to best protect Frank and Lynne, their guests and our staff, we had to ensure that everybody was sensible and respected one another’s space, a difficult ask on such a special day, but unfortunately a necessary one during the pandemic.’

Anne Mills, chief executive of Hospice Isle of Man, said: ’When I was asked if Hospice could help Frank and Lynne to achieve their dream it was a "yes" from the start and then we worked it out.

’Taking a holistic approach to caring for people is a real privilege and is what we do here at Hospice Isle of Man and we have been truly honoured to be part of their special day and fulfil their wish.

’Thank you to everybody who made this wonderful day happen for Frank and Lynne, and I hope they had the most special of wedding days.’