Teenager planning her wedding after being diagnosed with terminal cancer
Natalie Turner was given the devastating news last week that she has terminal cancer.
The 19-year-old was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in November 2014.
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Hide AdThe cancer was found in her ankle, forcing her to have her leg amputated.
Against all the odds, she went on to complete the Race for Life on crutches with one leg last summer.
In October, she was given the all-clear.
But in February, Natalie found out that the cancer had returned. It has now spread to her lungs.
‘I broke down in tears,’ she said. ‘It was such a big shock. But I’m just taking each day as it comes.’
Without treatment, Natalie has just six months to live.
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Hide AdHowever, she is going to start chemotherapy which could prolong her life for up to two years.
Now, she is planning to make the most of the time she has left by marrying her fiance John Daniells, whom she has been with since she was 15.
The pair had planned to get married next August, on her 21st birthday. They will now tie the knot this summer.
‘I want to get married. It will mean everything to me,’ she said. ‘I have been waiting for it for a while now.
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Hide Ad‘It’s going to be in the summer as my consultant said I won’t be well enough to get married next year.
‘Hopefully it will be a sunny day and will be really nice.
‘My family have been amazing. I can’t thank them enough.’
Natalie also hopes to go on a big family holiday to Disneyland Paris.
‘It will be amazing to go as a big family. They have been so supportive,’ she added.
Natalie, of St Augustine Road in Southsea, wants her two nephews Scott and Oliver Jackson to be page boys.
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Hide Ad‘We won’t get the chance to have our own children so I want them to be involved in our wedding,’ she said.
Her mum Denise Turner broke the news to her daughter, after being informed by her consultant.
Denise, 48, who also has two other daughters, said: ‘It’s been quite tough coming to terms with it. I broke down when I heard.
‘She has coped with it so well. I don’t know that other people would have coped with it like she has.
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Hide Ad‘She is so strong and determined to do everything that she can.
‘She doesn’t let anything stop her. She will try and fit in as much as she can.’
Denise has been asked to play a vital part in her daughter’s wedding.
‘I am going to give her away. I am very honoured to be able to do that,’ she said.
Now, Natalie’s family are bidding to raise money to help her dreams come true. To make a donation, visit gofundme.com/5n2y6sv8.