A BRIDE has told how her special day turned to tragedy when her severely ill father died just hours before he was due to walk her down the aisle.

Charlotte Garrard, 29, was due to marry her partner of four years Ashley, 29, on March 30 and the couple hoped her father Tim Lomas would be able to attend.

Tim, 56, suffered from glioblastomas, an aggressive brain cancer where a large portion of tumour cells are reproducing and dividing at any given time.

He was given a life expectancy of just three to six months.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

However, just hours before the couple were meant to say their vows, Tim died, surrounded by his family.

Tim left behind his wife Jane, 55, and Charlotte and her younger brother, Chris, 27.

Charlotte, who works as a nurse at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, said: “I phoned to register my dad’s death and cancel my wedding at the same time.

“For a little while I just thought I could never get married. I didn’t want to if my dad couldn’t walk me down the aisle.”

Concerns were raised about her dad’s health after he started struggling to read emails at work but it was initially put down to stress.

Tim, a project manager in the oil industry, did not experience symptoms prior to January, when he was diagnosed. Doctors found two tumours on his brain.

Tim rapidly deteriorated after his diagnoses suffering a stroke, a blood clot in his leg and he had to have surgery to drain an abscess on his face.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

On what the family thought would be a special day, Charlotte’s mum called after she was concerned about Tim’s breathing.

She drove to their home straight away and spent Tim’s final moments at his bedside.

Charlotte, of Maldon, said: “It is all a bit of a blur. I didn’t want to leave his side the night before. I left him watching television, eating his pasta bake.

“It was awful. It is just like your worst nightmare. From the day of being in A&E to his death was just 82 days and they said he had three to six months. It was that quick.

“He didn’t experience anything before this. He had a little bit of a headache but that was it.”

Following Tim’s funeral, Charlotte and Ashley married at Vaulty Manor in Heybridge on her mum’s birthday on May 17.

Her brother, Chris, walked Charlotte down the aisle and gave the speech.

Just a few days after the wedding, Charlotte shaved 17-inches off her hair to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity and donate her locks to the Little Princess Trust.

So far she had raised more than £4,000 for charity.

Brain Tumour Charity’s chief executive Sarah Lindsell said: “Her family’s loss is a fierce reminder of why we must move further and faster every day in the battle against brain tumours.”