[BobbyB]

Love match
Katie Fitzpatrick
29/ 1/2008


VALENTINE wedding ... Sharon Dunn and Nicolas Jones are looking forward to saying ‘I do’


A WOMAN given two days to live is now planning her dream wedding.

Ex-school dinner lady Sharon Dunn, who suffers from the incurable Motor Neurone Disease, was in a hospital high dependency unit when she was told the devastating news.

But now the mother of three is looking forward to becoming a blushing bride on the most romantic day of all – Valentine’s Day.

Partner Nicolas Jones, the father of her youngest son, Reece, had been planning the perfect proposal for his partner of 20 years.

But, aware of how serious the situation was when 46-year-old Sharon was rushed into Hope Hospital in December, he went down on one knee at her bedside and proposed.

Sharon’s health improved after Nicolas, 40, popped the question and she was allowed home for Christmas.

So Nicolas, who is also her full-time carer, decided to propose again and this time he choose Christmas Eve, also Sharon’s birthday, presenting her with a diamond engagement ring as she unwrapped her birthday gifts.

Sharon said: "I was shocked when he proposed for the first time and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to say yes straight away, but it was a different situation when he popped the question on Christmas Eve. I thought it was lovely that he had chosen that day.

"My consultant at Hope Hospital rang to wish me happy birthday and he was thrilled when I told him about the proposal."

The couple, who met while playing squash at Rochdale Racquets Club, will marry at Rochdale Register Office on February 14.

Sharon, who relies on a wheelchair to get around and uses a respiratory machine at home to help her breathing, is determined to walk down the aisle to their favourite song – Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers.

Her six-year-old grandaughter Katie will be a flower girl at the ceremony, which will be followed by a reception at the Talbot Head, Shawclough. They will then honeymoon in Lanzarote.

Sharon, of Heald Close, Shawclough, was diagnosed with MND, a progressive muscle wasting disease which causes loss of mobility in limbs and difficulty breathing, a year ago after experiencing a twitching sensation in her arm.

She will take her respiratory machine with her when the couple go on their honeymoon to Lanzarote with her parents, Audrey and Bernard Dean, and 10-year-old Reece.

Nicolas said: "I had planned to propose to Sharon for six months and I had told friends and family. Then things came to the nitty gritty in December and I decided to propose to her in hospital.

"It was a real relief when Sharon started to get better. She was moved to a normal ward and was allowed home.

"Sharon and I have been through so much together and I am really looking forward to our wedding day."

Sharon added: "I expect that I will be feeling nervous, but I want to walk down the aisle so I will have to take my time, step by step."

http://www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk/ne...156_love_match