Countryfile presenter Adam Henson admits he and his wife Charlie Gilbert admit they both cried a lot on their wedding night following a cancer diagnosis.
The Countryfile star, 57, says how his wedding vows allowed him to 'cement' his emotions after his soulmate Charlie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Charlie was unwell over Christmas 2020 and went to see a GP when she was still unwell two months later when doctors later found a 4.5cm tumour.
Following her cancer diagnosis, Charlie wanted to get married to cement their love and felt it was an important thing for the couple to do. The couple first started their relationship when they were 28-years-old and started their lives together on the 1600-acre Cotswolds farm west of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where Adam grew up.
“We cried a lot,” Adam told The Mirror. “Those vows cemented my emotions and let me say from the heart how I feel about Charlie. The registrar wasn’t aware of our situation and said she’d never had such an emotional couple. For us, it was a way of saying goodbye to everyone.”
Charlie says: “After 28 years together you do get a bit complacent, but getting married was suddenly really important - we didn’t know how long we had left, and I wanted Adam to know I was committed to him.”
Speaking of her diagnosis, Charlie opened up: “I’ve always been the one who shrugs off a cold. But with hindsight, I had a gurgly stomach through 2020, occasionally needing to quickly dash to the loo. I just thought I’d maybe developed some food intolerances.”
“I’d sneakily Googled my symptoms and found they could indicate pancreatic cancer. I mentioned it to the GP and she recommended a scan. Waiting for it at the hospital I was overcome with absolute dread. I knew something awful was wrong with me.”
“The scan showed a four-and-a-half centimetre tumour on my pancreas, in a really tricky position. We knew people who’d died of pancreatic cancer and I absolutely felt this was going to be the end of my life.”
Unaware of the drama unfolding back at the farm, Adam called Charlie before his flight home, and was left feeling “totally lost” by news of the diagnosis.
“As a farmer, you’re solving problems every day from the moment you wake up until you go to bed,” he said. “But I didn’t have the skills or knowledge to fix this. I was terrified. It was emotionally overwhelming - all I could do was deal with the facts and be as supportive as possible.”
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