{"id":807153,"date":"2026-07-17T04:54:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/807153\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T04:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:54:49","slug":"terminally-ill-man-weds-fiancee-at-colchester-hospital-after-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/807153\/","title":{"rendered":"Terminally ill man weds fianc\u00e9e at Colchester Hospital after 20 years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

A terminally ill man who chose to provide for his kids over spending money on a wedding has finally tied the knot<\/a> with his fianc\u00e9 \u2013 20 years after he first proposed to her.<\/p>\n

Dean Pennell, 63, met his partner Kay Beaman, 62, through their children 24 years ago in Basildon, Essex.<\/p>\n

The couple held off on wedding plans in order to provide for their 10 children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

THE BEST TIME TO TALK TO YOUR PARENTS ABOUT SENIOR CARE \u2014 BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE<\/a><\/p>\n

But after being told he had just weeks to live, Pennell \u2014 who has terminal cancer<\/a> \u2014 finally married Beaman on June 18 at Colchester Hospital in Essex, England, news agency SWNS reported.<\/p>\n

The new wife said, “I am absolutely elated. We have waited a long time, and it\u2019s so special to be able to celebrate our marriage here<\/a>, with our families.”<\/p>\n

\"Dean <\/p>\n

Dean Pennell, who has terminal cancer, married longtime love Kay Beaman at Colchester Hospital on June 18, 2026. The couple is pictured here. (SWNS)<\/p>\n

She added to SWNS, “Dean proposed when we first got together \u2014 but with 10 children between us, money would not allow.”<\/p>\n

She added, “We were planning to get married this year, but with the situation as it was, we decided to bring the wedding forward.”<\/p>\n

BRIDE IS WALKED DOWN WEDDING AISLE BY MAN WHO RECEIVED HER LATE FATHER’S HEART<\/a><\/p>\n

The couple were joined by their family and friends<\/a>, including their 10 children and some of their 18 grandchildren.<\/p>\n

The event was organized in less than a week by a variety of hospital staff members, SWNS noted.<\/p>\n

\"Dean <\/p>\n

Beaman, front left, and Pennell, front right, at Colchester Hospital, along with Langham Ward manager Lucy Everett, matron Emma Davis and patient flow coordinator Donna Knox. Family and friends are shown in the background.\u00a0 (SWNS)<\/p>\n

Said Beaman, “It was very hard for Dean. He had been so excited in the lead-up to the wedding, and I would get a phone call from him at the hospital every morning telling me how many days there were to go until the wedding.”<\/p>\n

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She said that “when the day came, he was adamant, as difficult as it was, that he was going to stand up for as much as the ceremony as possible \u2014 and we had a lovely day.”<\/p>\n

\"Dean <\/p>\n

After being told he had just weeks to live, Pennell, who has terminal cancer, finally married his fianc\u00e9 on June 18.\u00a0 (SWNS)<\/p>\n

She noted her new husband “was exhausted afterward. Dean is now back at home, and we are living life<\/a> to suit us.”<\/p>\n

A former electroplater, Pennell added, “It was absolutely brilliant. The staff worked really hard to organize the wedding.”<\/p>\n

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/a><\/p>\n

Ward manager Lucy Everett said, “It has been a pleasure to be able to help<\/a> Dean and Kay. It\u2019s rare that we get to celebrate a wedding at Colchester Hospital \u2014 it\u2019s a first for me,” as SWNS reported.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

The East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust also presented the couple with a clock \u2014 displaying the exact time the happy couple said “I do” on their big day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kelly McGreal is a production assistant with the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A terminally ill man who chose to provide for his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,175112,10711,84,104258,392,890,27943],"class_list":["post-807153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-family-and-friends","tag-good-news","tag-health","tag-health-care-healthy-living","tag-healthcare","tag-lifestyle","tag-weddings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}