It's not unusual for wedding stress to take a physical toll on people, especially when you're working all the hours that god sends to pay for it.
So when Ashley Robinson began experiencing some worrying stomach issues and doctors allegedly told him 'you're fine, go and get married', he took their advice.
But just weeks after his big day, the 35-year-old received the news that he had stage four bowel cancer.
It came as a 'hammer blow' to the newlywed couple, with Ashley saying his wife Jasmin was left 'absolutely crushed' by his diagnosis.
The chef is now urging other people who notice unusual symptoms to get checked out and take a persistent approach with their GPs, rather than pushing it to the back of their minds like he did.
Ashley explained that in May last year, he started passing 'quite a lot of blood' when he went for a number two - and a month later, the problem had 'started getting worse'.
Ashley Robinson, 35, received the devastating news just weeks after his wedding (Kennedy News and Media)
The groom, from Hertfordshire, explained that he got in touch with his GP to discuss his concerns, but says he was told 'it wasn't serious'.
"[They] told me not to worry and that it would pass in a week or so," Ashley said. "I told them that it had already been going on for a month, but they just said to leave it another week.
"Personally, I thought it was stress related, because it had come on rapidly while we were getting stuff ready for the wedding. We were working very, very hard for it and I was working a minimum of 60 hours per week. If I didn't have the wedding, I probably would have taken it more seriously."
While continuing to feel the pressure of organising his nuptials, Ashley's stomach issues only got worse - and he ended up being rushed to A&E after passing 'the most insane amount of blood'.
The chef said that he informed the doctor that his great grandmother had passed away from colon cancer, but claims the medic told him 'there was no chance' he had it as he was 'too young'.
"I went home with medication and took that for two weeks, but nothing changed," he continued. "I had my stag do coming up and the actual wedding in July, so I just pushed it to the back of mind and thought I would deal with it later.
"The wedding was so consuming and I was being told by every health professional that I definitely didn't have cancer. They were saying 'you're fine, don't worry, go and get married' so I took their word for it."
The chef claimed doctors reassured him his symptoms were likely down to wedding stress (Kennedy News and Media)
He got wed to Jasmine on 20 July last year - but the newlywed's honeymoon period was short-lived, as Ashley's health continued to decline.
He began experiencing rapid weight loss, shedding a whopping 12kg in just seven days - but he claims that his GP once again dismissed his symptoms, suggesting they were a result of piles.
Jasmine eventually 'stormed in' the doctor's surgery and demanded that further investigations be carried out, resulting in Ashley being referred for a colonoscopy.
Tragically, medics found a tumour which was 'the size of an orange' in his colon and the newlywed was informed that he had stage four bowel cancer, which has spread to his liver, last August.
"It was the worst news possible," Ashley said. "It's so hard to put into words the hammer blow, it absolutely crushed my wife. Aside from it happening to her, it was the worst possible news I ever could have had."
In September, he began immunotherapy treatment and by January this year, his tumour had shrunk by 90% - which are 'incredible' results which have even wowed his oncologist.
He went on: "I couldn't believe it. I never thought they were going to say that it had shrunk by 90%, it was incredible. But if they'd found it in May, then they might have been able to give me a treatment before it had spread to my liver.
"At the time it was obviously earth-shattering news, and I couldn't contemplate what was going on but now that I'm on the mend, it's very frustrating."
His wife Jasmin was left 'absolutely crushed' by his diagnosis (Kennedy News and Media)
"When something's not right, you know your own body," Ashley added. "When I rang the GP, I thought they would have made more of a thing of it but it just seemed like they didn't want to know."
Ashley is still having immunotherapy treatment and hopes to continue seeing positive results at his regular check-ups.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board said: "People are often the best judge of what's 'normal' for their bodies. NHS advice is always to encourage anyone with worrying symptoms to seek advice and to ask again if they are still worried.
"If patients are concerned or unhappy about the care they receive from their GP practice, we encourage them to first of all contact their practice's patient services team.
"If they feel that the practice hasn't resolved their concerns, they can then get in touch with the integrated care board's patient experience team who will discuss the options open to them. We have not previously been made aware of this case but can follow it up on the patient's behalf if they contact us and give their permission for us to do this."
A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust said: "We aim to provide outstanding care to all our patients and we are very sorry for what has happened to Mr Robinson. We would encourage him to contact the Trust directly to discuss any concerns he has with the treatment he received. Our thoughts are with Mr Robinson and his family at this difficult time."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Topics: Cancer, Health, Weddings, UK News
Olivia Burke
Updated 19:39 5 Mar 2025 GMTPublished 19:37 5 Mar 2025 GMT
Bride and groom spark online debate after showing up in jeans and plaid shirt during wedding ceremony
Amie and Hunter weren't down to fork out a fortune on a wedding dress and fancy suit
A bride claims she lost friends and family because she wore jeans and a plaid shirt to her wedding instead of the traditional (and expensive) dress.
22-year-old Amie Barron tied the knot with new husband Hunter, 24, on 26 January and the pair wore matching outfits for their wedding in at a room in a West Virginia public library.
The couple wanted to keep costs low and only spent around $1,000 (£775) on the ceremony, with $300 of that going on new pairs of cowboy boots for Amie and Hunter to wear to the wedding. Take a look:
Another $480 went on a photographer, while the bride did her own hair and makeup along with sorting out the music and food to save on other expenses.
There were 20 guests in attendance, while a boxer dog named Silas was the ring bearer, and the couple reckon they saved about $10,000 (£7,750) on the whole shebang so they can spend money on a two-week honeymoon in July.
Amie said she 'wouldn't change it for the world', but faced some criticism from people who said she was 'crazy' and called her wedding 'ugly'.
The couple tied the knot in January, and didn't spend a fortune on the big day (Kennedy)
She said: "I've always known I never wanted a big wedding. I think some people do want that but I knew right away that wasn't me.
"Everybody told me while we were planning that I would regret it so it was very controversial for people who heard what we were doing that didn't really support us.
"It's been a struggle especially after the wedding. We've got a lot of mean messages and posts on social media and from people who weren't that supportive of it that we've had to cut out of our life.
"I was very upset, it drained us for a while and we were trying to figure out how to continue life with all of the hate we were getting. We sat down and talked about how we weren't going to let it affect our marriage as newlyweds and we stopped talking to them."
They had a dog bear the rings for them (Kennedy)
The bride said she did go dress shopping but when she saw that some of them were as expensive as $3,000 (£2,300) she thought it was 'insane' to spend that much and just wore her normal clothes.
She said that she and her husband had a 'great time' at the wedding, and that he was initially supposed to also be wearing a cowboy hat but left it at home.
Some commenters were not very approving of the wedding, with those against it declaring 'this wedding is trash' and calling it 'ugly'.
However, others were more positive about it and said that a wedding should be a 'special party' and not the most expensive thing you could imagine.
Someone else said they found 'budget' weddings to be 'significantly sweeter', while others praised them for not spending 'so much unnecessary money'.
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy
Topics: Weddings, US News, Dogs
Joe Harker
Updated 09:44 26 Feb 2025 GMTPublished 09:43 26 Feb 2025 GMT
Woman who dismissed 'harmless' ulcer down to being run down given shock cancer diagnosis
It took weeks before she learnt the reason why
A woman who had dismissed a ‘harmless mouth ulcer’ ended up receiving a shock cancer diagnosis.
Helen Keough had noticed the ulcer underneath her tongue last summer and believed it was due to her being ‘busy and run down’.
Explaining it ‘just felt like ulcer pain’ without ever considering it could be a sign of cancer, she said she’d been to the pharmacy for it and it ‘kept going for a bit and then coming back again’.
However, the 44-year-old began to get concerned when it didn’t just clear up after a few months. She says the GP told her to go to the dentist, where they filed her teeth down as it was thought they were irritating her tongue.
Helen Keough noticed the painful ulcer under her tongue didn't clear up after months of irritation (Kennedy News and Media)
“But four weeks later it was getting so much worse,” Keough explained. "It got to the point where it was waking me up at night and it hurt to eat. It was just so sore. I was losing weight at the time and was very tired."
She was then referred to hospital for a biopsy but claims she had to wait to receive her results, revealing the sore was in fact a tumour.
"By the time I got my results and was told it was cancer, it had been four weeks,” the Chelmsford woman said. "I didn't fall apart or anything, it was very much 'what are we going to do next?' I didn't really understand how aggressive it could be.”
Keough then sought a second opinion at a private hospital, where she was told it was stage-two tongue cancer and she needed to have her lymph nodes removed.
She ended up undergoing an operation to have 6cm of her tongue removed followed by a recovery period where she needed to learn how to talk and eat again.
“The surgery was extremely hard to get through. Because tests show this cancer has a very high chance of coming back, they want to give me radiation just in case anything was left behind,” the woman added.
She now urges others to advocate for themselves (Kennedy News and Media)
Having ended up undergoing a tracheotomy and skin graft surgery to make a new flap for her tongue, she is now urging others to always advocate for themselves.
"Radiation for head and neck cancer is life-altering, more so than surgery,” Keough said. “If the GP, dentist, or hospital had done their job, I could've had this dealt with straight away and not been at the stage of facing radiation.”
The woman reckons if she hadn’t gone for a second opinion, she ‘would’ve been dead within a year or two’.
So, claiming she was ‘let down at every turn’, she added: "Now I'm telling everyone if you spot anything in your mouth that doesn't go away naturally in a few weeks to go to your GP.”
Diane Sarkar, Chief Nursing and Quality Officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are very sorry that Helen's care fell below the standard she should expect. We are in contact with her and investigating the issues raised. This is an open complaint and we continue to keep Helen informed and are providing support."
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