Patient with rare cancer proposes to girlfriend at Oswestry hospital bedside
A cancer patient popped the question and proposed to his girlfriend after his operation at the The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.
44-year-old Andrew Estcourt, from Winterley, in Cheshire, who had surgery for bone cancer, popped the question to his girlfriend Selina Lawton at his bedside – and she said yes.
Staff at the Oswestry-based hospital helped Andrew prepare for the occasion, gathering friends and family around him and helping him buy flowers.
He decided to propose at the orthopaedic, where he was having surgery to remove a rare tumour from his sciatic nerve.
He said: "Originally my GP said that I had pulled a muscle in my leg, but because it kept hurting I kept going to the doctors. It turned out to be a bone tumour which needed to be removed immediately. I ended up at the orthopaedic and I cannot fault the care I had.
"I'd booked a holiday to Portugal but I couldn't get travel insurance.
"I decided to have the surgery and lose the holiday. The operation has been quite traumatic, but the staff were absolutely brilliant.
"I still wanted to propose to Selina, so I had to get my son to bring the ring to the hospital. I turned to her and asked her if she would do me the honour of being my wife.
"She was knocked back a bit really, but instantly she said 'of course I will'. I had this whole proposal speech planned out but I ended up just blurting it out."
Donna St John, ward manager of Oswald Ward, where Andrew was a patient said: "It was such a change to the usual requests you get from our tumour patients.
"Most of the time it's getting them a cup of tea. But when he told the team he wanted to propose they leaped into action .
"We were all a little bit nervous in case she said no. Luckily she agreed and they will hopefully have a fantastic life as husband and wife."
The couple met in May 2016.
"We met through a website and from the moment I met her and looked into her eyes I knew she was the one," Andrew said.
"She didn't believe me until a little bit later. I could see our future in her eyes and it's been perfect. It feels like we've been together forever and we've been through a lot."
