Almost a week “to the day” before Tyrone Armitage’s wedding, he and his partner of 11 years Kelly were caught up in the last-minute chaos of wedding planning.
Finding the right coloured ties for the groomsmen. Emergency wedding dress alterations. Organising reception music and run sheets for the ceremony.
It was all part of the fun, the couple kept telling themselves.
Then, the Melbourne man picked up the phone to hear his sister’s voice tinged with sadness and pain.
“I instantly knew something was wrong. I knew straight away it was about Dad,” the 28-year-old told Love What Matters.
“‘Ty, it’s about Dad. It’s not good. They have found more tumours.’ I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing and instantly went from a feeling of one of the biggest highs of my life to snapping back to reality and feeling like my heart just shattered into a thousand pieces.”
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Ty’s father has been battling multiple myeloma cancers for almost 16 years, he told the publication. Although the last 12 months “hadn’t been good”, Ty was confident his father would be able to make his wedding day. Unfortunately, doctors found new tumours in his face, shoulder and hip. He was “riddled with [cancer],” Ty remembered thinking.
“Words like tumours, radiation, and palliative care were being thrown around and I remember thinking, ‘is this really happening?’” he said.