A woman has shared the heartbreak of her “soulmate” being given just three months to live – and says he’s already starting to forget his family.
A few months ago, Kirsty Chorlton was left devastated as she asked her husband, Wayne, about their wedding day and he couldn’t recall any details about the special event.
The loss of his memories is the latest tragic symptom to hit the father-of-two, who has a butterfly glioma, a rare tumour that is slowly eating away at his brain.
Wife Kirsty, 34, is now sharing their story to raise awareness and funds so they can make memories together with their daughters, Daisy-Marie and Evie, aged four and two, having recently renewed their vows to give her husband, aged 37, new memories of their wedding.
“Hearing that the love of my life has cancer was my worst fear coming true,” the mum, who is a full-time carer from Porth, Wales, told NeedToKnow.Online.
“Actually being told the news broke me but my first reaction was that he was going to die and I was going to lose him.
“Now, we’ve been left completely devastated as a family, as his memory has gone really bad and he can’t remember much of his daily routine or big life moments.
“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy and I can’t believe this is happening.
“Wayne is [so young] and we should have the rest of our lives together, it doesn’t feel real knowing I’ll have to one day bury my soulmate, the father of my children.
“I’m scared to death of the unknown, but our vow renewal was the best day ever.
"It was so nice to go out and enjoy our day, while forgetting about everything for a while – but most importantly, Wayne really loved the day."
Kirsty and Wayne started their love story back in April 2010, feeling an instant connection – and just eight months later, he popped the question.
Soon after, they welcomed their two daughters in October 2018 and November 2020 respectively and life was good.
However, everything came crashing down in December 2014, when Wayne began having “blinding headaches” which caused him to collapse and start acting out of character, such as drinking hand soap.
Initially, Wayne claims he was told the symptoms were due to a migraine, but after visiting an optician and having multiple PET scans, as well as MRIs, his diagnosis was confirmed.
Over the next six years, the dad underwent invasive forms of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in a bid to see his little girls grow up.
Tragically, in February 2023, the family were told the tumour was no longer responding to the treatments.
Speaking about the tragic ordeal, Kirsty said: “It was very exhausting, especially being told his cancer was terminal and had spread to the rest of his brain, possibly his spinal cord too.
“A few months ago, Wayne suffered a two-hour long seizure, where I was told he would be dead within the next few hours.
“He was unresponsive for over 30 hours before coming back around but I think this worsened his memory.”
Kirsty was told to ask her husband routine questions in a bid to keep his brain active, but she quickly realised he remembered little-to-nothing about the biggest moments of his life.
She said: “It was horrible, because I had to keep reminding him that his nana had passed away and I knew from that moment that he couldn’t remember anything beyond that date.
“I asked him about our wedding day and the only thing he could remember was the date but not our special day at all.
“It completely broke me, as I’ve never seen him like this.
“Now, he can’t remember our children being born or their birthdays, it’s such a sad situation to be in and it’s heartbreaking for all of us, especially Wayne.”
Kirsty’s mum, Kathleen, has launched a GoFundMe to raise £3,000 for her son-in-law to make memories with his family, with donations totalling £2,100 so far.
Kirsty added: “I’m terrified of bringing up my children without him and I’m scared they won’t remember him.
“Our youngest doesn’t really understand and our eldest is non-verbal autistic, so she doesn’t understand either, but when the time comes, I know it will leave them heartbroken.
“It’s breaking my heart that I can’t stop this happening to him, but I love Wayne so much.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else other than by his side, as it’s always been us two for the last 13 years and I will continue to be here until the unthinkable day comes.”
