They married in a small ceremony last week
A bride with terminal cancer died in the arms of her new husband and ‘soulmate’ just hours after they were married. Jade Tabrar, 37, and Adam Kemp, 42, were married at a small ceremony as she battled stomach cancer on November 3.
Mum-of-five Jade had been diagnosed in August 2023 after losing four stone, struggling to eat during her pregnancy and suffering stomach pains. The couple decided to get married after finding out Jade had just three months to live. Hours after the newlyweds married last Monday at their home Jade passed away in Adam’s arms.
Adam, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, said: “She looked me in the eye and said she was so glad she got to be Mrs Kemp and have our family. Then her head slumped and I knew her soul had left. She had gone.
“We stayed there, our heads touching and I said: ‘I love you, baby. It’s okay, you can go now, no more pain’. We stayed like that for a while, just us.
“It was the most amazing day – such a perfect day. I got to finally marry the most beautiful woman in the world. I love you forever and always, Jade Louise Kemp.”
The childhood sweethearts had been together for 19 years and had five children together. Jade began suffering stomach pains and inexplicably losing weight during her final pregnancy, but doctors put it down to the extra strain on her body.
However, after giving birth to a healthy 7lb baby boy in February 2023, the problems continued and she went for tests. She was diagnosed with Stage 2 stomach cancer, but it was so aggressive that it progressed to Stage 4 within weeks, while she was waiting for treatment.
Aldi worker Adam explained: “It floored her. It made her so ill and so sick, but she was so brave and just kept going, fighting the cancer all the way.
“And all the time being an amazing partner and amazing mother. We always knew we wanted to get married – we were soulmates and wanted to be together forever. But because we saw so many people marry and then split up after a few years, we always joked that we’d wait until our 20th anniversary and then have our big dream wedding.”
In May this year the couple finally got the news they’d longed for – Jade was stable and could stop the treatment. But Jade’s health swiftly deteriorated again and weeks ago, in September, the couple faced their worst nightmare. Tests showed the cancer had spread to the womb and ovaries and, with no more treatment possible, Jade was told she had just three months to live.
Adam said: “She was so strong. She started a bucket list and all she wanted to do was make sure the children had the best Christmas. But deep down she knew she wasn’t even going to make Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Jade told Adam this was their last chance to turn their wedding dream into a reality. They had planned to marry on November 21, 2026 – the date of their 20th anniversary – but after the news, Adam said they ‘didn’t have an option’.
Friends, together with a hospice team, rallied round to organise the paperwork, a registrar, a cake and a buffet for the big day. Adopted as a baby, Jade had no family and her dream was for Adam’s father to give her away and to wear a treasured bridesmaid dress she’d worn at his wedding.
Friends hurriedly had it altered to fit because she had lost so much weight. A registrar conducted Jade and Adam’s wedding at 2pm on Monday, November 3, in front of a small crowd of well-wishing friends and family.
Adam explained: “The end was coming so quickly. We knew we didn’t have long. The registrar came to our house because Jade was so poorly.
“She was wheeled up the hallway then I wheeled her into the room. I knelt down beside her during the ceremony so we could be on the same level.
“We said ‘I do’ and she reached up, brushed my tears away and said ‘Don’t cry, I love you’. Everyone there was in floods of tears and said they have never seen a wedding filled with so much love.”
While guests ate the wedding buffet, Adam took an exhausted Jade to lie down on the sofa and the pair shared some precious moments together. Later, as everybody left, he changed her into her pyjamas and made her comfortable, never leaving her side as they chatted about the memories they had shared.
Adam said: “Then her breathing changed. I called Willen Hospice and they came out, checked her, and said it wouldn’t be long. I knew then that I would lose my soulmate on the day I married her.”
Jade passed away at 10.45pm, still cradled in her new husband’s arms. Today Adam, who has given up work to care for the children, is racked with grief, but comforted by the fact that he and Jade had their beautiful wedding day.
Meanwhile concerned friends have upped Jade’s original fundraising page target to £4,000 in a bid to help the family through the following tough months and pay towards the funeral. You can view the page and donate via GoFundMe.
