EXCLUSIVE Mother who had trouble eating and ended up being diagnosed with deadly cancer finally gets her 'fairytale' wedding
Bride Kerry Lenders has finally said 'I do' in a fairytale wedding that was put on hold after struggling to eat led to a shock cancer diagnosis.
It had been suggested the 39-year-old was suffering from acid reflux when she began to have trouble swallowing.
Certain foods like bread and potatoes would just seem to get stuck in her throat, and Kerry says her worrying symptoms became increasingly unbearable.
'I'd been having trouble swallowing for about two years and it just kept getting worse,' she says.
'It got to the point where I couldn't keep much food down - and the only things I could eat were soups and ice lollies and custard!'
Kerry adds: 'I even ended up eating in a separate room from everyone else because my little boy would get worried.
'I had been told it was acid reflux, but I was concerned it was something more.'
Anxious about having problems on her wedding day after deciding to tie the knot with her partner of 20 years Scott Catterall in January 2024, just two months before, the former dog groomer saw a specialist and underwent a series of scans and tests.
And she was devastated when, in March last year, she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
'After having the tests I was told it would take two weeks to get the results through … and got a call the next day saying the specialist wanted to see me.
'As soon as I walked in the room I could tell by his face that it wasn't good news and I said 'it's cancer isn't it'. I collapsed when he said he was sorry but yes, it was.'
Kerry, from St Helens, had a 6.2cm tumour in her oesophagus, the tube that connects the throat to the stomach.
So when she should have been looking for wedding dresses and choosing a bridal bouquet, Kerry was beginning a gruelling 10 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
'My first thought was would I see my children grow up? It was horrendous.
'I didn't react how I thought I would. I thought I wouldn't get out of bed and would cry every single day (and I did cry for a couple of days).
'But then it was like fight or flight. Survival mode kicked in.
'Cancer had taken so many people I loved, my dad and my nan; Scott's sister, and others - it had wiped out half our family.
'I looked at the kids and thought it's not having me.
'I found out everything I could, and I got my battle gear on.'
Kerry was treated at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool which she says 'was amazing' - 'the staff there are brilliant, especially my oncologist, Dr Amy Jackson' - and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiotherapy, as well as taking 10 chemotherapy tablets a day.
She also had a feeding tube fitted after being told the treatment would make her symptoms worse before they got better, but she says: 'I never used my feeding tube, other than to take the chemo tablets which I crushed because they were like huge torpedoes.
'I discovered that some people are cured of cancer and then have to learn to eat again, and I didn't want to get over one problem, only to have another.
'Scott and I made nutritious soups and smoothies and I took manuka honey - doctors were amazed that instead of losing weight, I put it on!
'We didn't cancel the wedding, but we did put it on hold so I could put all my energy into my treatment.
'Scott was amazing. He was there for me every step of the way - proof that he's always been the right man for me.'
When Kerry was finally given the all-clear in December last year, she smiles: 'I was on such a high.
'Then there was panic. There was a wedding to plan - so we went at it all guns blazing.'
Kerry and Scott, 45, had decided to get married after their eight-year-old son Charlie asked why Kerry had a different surname from him and his sister Amelia, three.
'He said he wanted us to be a family,' says Kerry, 'and while we explained that we were a family, he said he wanted us all to have the same name. It struck at my heart.'
Scott, who gave up his job as a travel agent to look after Kerry, says: 'We had always planned to get married - we'd been engaged for 16 years - but something always seemed to get in the way.
'Then we realised there would always be a reason not to do it - so let's just do it.'
On Wednesday there were tears of joy as the couple married in an emotional ceremony at the 17th century Tempest Arms near Skipton, surrounded by close family and friends.
It was a celebration, Kerry says, not just of her love for Scott, but of her relief and happiness at having been given the all-clear.
'It really is our fairytale ending,' she adds. 'If ever there was a time for a big celebration, this was it.
'Marrying Scott means more to me than ever after what we've been through.
'There were times when I feared it was never going to happen,' Kerry admits.
'But I pushed away the negative thoughts and the wedding became my goal to getting better.
'It wasn't just about getting married, it was a party to say we got through it as a team - and it was a big 'up yours' to cancer!'
Scott says: 'Having gone through so much put everything into perspective. We had all our family and friends there and every guest had helped us to get to where we were. They helped us both through.'
Son Charlie was ring boy and daughter Amelia was a flower girl and bridesmaid.
Kerry said: 'Walking up the aisle was wonderful. I thought about Charlie wanting us to be a family and have the same name, and I thought of how hard going through cancer had been - but we did it!'
'It was an emotional day. There were tears,' smiles Scott.
'But they were tears of joy and happiness because now we can get on with the rest of our lives and making the most of every single day together.'
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