By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A massive community effort has made a dying wish come true for a Meredith woman.
A flood of offers helped organise a wedding in just a week for Mandy Pattenden and fiance John Brockway.
Despite suffering terminal cancer and spending more time in hospital than at home so far this year, Mandy plans to step out as a beautiful bride on Sunday.
And the man she calls “my rock” will be waiting to make her wedding dream a reality.
Mandy’s sister, Cara Stansfield, said the family feared Mandy wouldn’t make it but the “amazing” community assistance had lifted her spirits.
“We know she doesn’t have much time left. The cancer is stage four and spread to Mandy’s liver and elsewhere.
“She was in hospital on Tuesday for another procedure to help alleviate the pain and make her more comfortable.
“It has been a rollercoaster of doctors, hospitals and chemo. Mandy has tried everything, including alternative therapies and focussed on fitness.
“She even took up weightlifting a while back to stay positive.”
Cara said the family wanted to tell the story to say thank you to everyone who contributed to organising the wedding at such short notice.
“But we also want to spread awareness of the need to go and get tested as soon as possible once there is anything that is not quite right,” Cara said.
“Mandy was advanced before we caught it, and even the doctors thought she was too young to be suffering bowel cancer.
“One of her friends went and got tested recently and had lucky escape. Check for everything. It’s better than going through this sort of heartbreak,” Cara said.
She said Mandy and John, who have been together for about seven years, had planned to wed two years ago but Mandy’s diagnosis and a constant stream of setbacks had conspired to delay it.
“Some of the big items, like the wedding dress from Bernice Bridal Fashions, had been organised but there were lots of other things that still needed to be done.”
With Cara’s time taken up more and more with her sister, Torquay’s Gail Smaniotto took up the challenge of organising the remaining needs.
“Once we reached out to community we had so many offers of help, it was just incredible,” Gail said.
“It has snowballed into an amazing humanitarian project. It has been so heart-warming to experience when there’s so much negativity in the world today.”
The couple will celebrate with an outdoor ceremony beside the Moorabool River at Meredith followed by reception at Meredith Hall.
* Bowel cancer is Australia’s second biggest killer after lung cancer, claiming the lives of 77 people every week.
But it need not be so because bowel cancer is one of the most curable types of cancer if found early.
That’s why Bowel Cancer Australia initiated Bowel Cancer Awareness Month every June to raise public awareness of the disease.
Bowel Cancer Awareness Month has a positive message – saving lives through early detection. More information can be found at bowelcancerawarenessmonth.org.
The family expressed their deep thanks to everyone who offered assistance:
Gail Smaniotto and Amy Harding took over organisation of the wedding at short notice and managed to pull it all together.
Greg Anderson, a friend of the family, who has been there visiting, supporting and helping out: “A true friend and great bloke.”
Event Management – Decedent High Teas by André
Event styling – Peppa and Peach
Florist – Gathered Freelance
Laser cut butterflies – Sketch and Etch
Mustang – Luke Hayward
Cake – Alice Broadway
Ceremony Rugs – Nomad Styling
Hair – Barbara’s Beauty and Brow Bar
Make up – Camilla Dighton make-up artist
The Nail Room
Spotlight
Bridal House Geelong
The Surfcoast Secondhand Community (Facebook)
The Surfcoast Noticeboard Community (Facebook)
Geelong online sales Community (Facebook)
Bannockburn and Surrounds Community Noticeboard
