A MUM whose dying wish was to be a bride has passed away a month after marrying the man she loved.
After being told her cancer would kill her in a matter of weeks, Lorraine Younger, 37, married long-term partner Norman in a moving ceremony last month.
Now Norman, 45, is preparing for his new bride’s funeral after the mother-of-two lost her fight against a rapidly-spreading secondary cancer.
Speaking from their home in Grindon, he told the Echo: “The wedding had really lifted her.
“It was such a lovely day to have all her family and friends around her.
“We had been together for 12 years and it was something we had always planned to do anyway.
“But after the wedding day, she seemed to go downhill.
“For the last fortnight, she was sedated and she died peacefully.”
Lorraine had been living in St Benedict’s Hospice since January 15, where staff helped to control her pain.
She took a break from the hospice to enjoy her wedding reception at her local pub, the Hastings Hill.
And the following day, the Black Cats fan visited the Stadium of Light to watch Sunderland play Reading, as a makeshift honeymoon.
Despite being in pain, the wedding day had brought a smile to Lorraine’s face as she said her vows surrounded by her family, friends and daughters Stacey Younger, 11, a pupil at Broadway Junior School, and Natasha Stafford, 17.
Lorraine was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and was relieved to find out her body was free of the disease following treatment.
But last October, after experiencing headaches, she and her family were given the devastating news that it had returned aggressively in her brain and skin.
She underwent an operation in a bid to control the brain tumour, but doctors told the family there was nothing more they could do to save Lorraine, who worked at the Spar in Chester Road.
She died on March 8 at St Benedict’s Hospice. Norman, who works for a metalwork company, and her sister Louise Thorne, 42, took it in turns to stay with Lorraine.
Louise said: “She kept on fighting until the end.
“There were only a few moments when she got upset, apart from that she stayed strong.
“Before she was poorly, she was always full of life, she was very much a ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of person, but not in a nasty way. She was very well liked.
“The wedding day was absolutely fabulous and I’m so pleased she got it.”
Norman added: “I want to thank St Benedict’s Hospice and friends and family for being so supportive throughout this, also George and Jane Jenner at the Hastings Hill who made our wedding reception possible.”
l Lorraine’s funeral will take place at Sunderland Crematorium tomorrow at 1.30pm. She asked that people wear an item of coloured clothing, no black.
l Comment – Page 28
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