Washington couple finally get dream honeymoon after groom suffered stroke two weeks before their wedding day

Mark Leybourne, from Washington, was counting down the days to the tying the knot with fiancee Joanne when he suffered a stroke in June 2018, putting the wedding date – and his very life – in doubt.

Looking back on his ordeal, the Nissan worker said: “Waking up something didn’t seem right, I had a really bad headache and was struggling to speak.

“It just wouldn’t go away, typing and speaking were proving really difficult. Then the penny dropped. Am I having a stroke?”

But despite being told 20% of his brain was dead after the stroke, Mark managed to make it to his wedding day and tied the knot with the help of his best man and the work done at the Sunderland Royal Hospital stroke unit.

He said: “Over the next three days, with our amazing NHS, I had various assessments and test, the good news was that there would be no problem getting married. However I couldn’t fly for three months – so no honeymoon abroad.”

Mark was determined not to have to cancel his wedding, pushing himself to walk and overcoming fatigue and tiredness over the coming fortnight.

“Two weeks later was the greatest day of my life I married the greatest person I know at Matfen hall Northumberland, in glorious sunshine with great friends and family,” he said.

After cancelling his honeymoon, Mark put his focus on getting back to his passion, rally car driving, and just three months after suffering the stroke he won the Northern Saloon & Sports Car Championships.

Now, more than a year since his near-death experience, Mark and Joanne have finally got the honeymoon they’ve been waiting for, visiting the coast of California.

During the trip, the pair toured the coast, visited Seaworld, and taken in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.