Hospital Ceremony For Cancer Crisis Gay Couple

UNITED KINGDOM - Two Devizes men have been joined in a civil partnership ceremony after one of them was given just a month to live.
Peter Howard, 57, and his partner of ten years, Chris Wells, 32, underwent the ceremony at Salisbury District Hospital on Thursday, a few days after doctors told Mr Howard that his condition was extremely serious.
Mr Wells said that hospital staff and registrar Celia Wood had been sensitive and helpful about arranging the ceremony at very short notice.
He told the Gazette: "Peter contracted skin cancer about five years ago but it was thought to have been cured.
"Then it returned and it really accelerated over the last four or five weeks. He was told a week ago he had a month to live.
"A civil partnership was something we always intended to do but we never got round to. The diagnosis made it very urgent.
"The people at the register office put us on the fast track and they arranged it in two days."
Nursing staff brought Mr Howard from his bed in a wheelchair to the public waiting area where the ceremony took place. It was performed by registrar Celia Wood in front of a group of the couple's close friends.
Mr Howard and Mr Wells exchanged vows. While Mr Howard extemporised, Mr Wells had his piece prepared beforehand.
He read out: "We've been together for ten years. We've had our ups and downs but through it all there is nothing I would change about any of it.
"You're my partner, my soulmate but above all you're my best mate and I love you very much."
The two men met over the Internet and they clicked straight away. Mr Wells, who originally hails from Essex, came to join Mr Howard at his home in Great Cheverell, near Devizes.
Both qualified in information technology, they set up PC Technology at Mr Howard's home and had just opened their first shop off New Park Street in January when Mr Howard's cancer returned with a vengeance.
Mr Wells said: "It has been very hard, running the business on my own and travelling to Salisbury every evening to see Peter, but since the ceremony Peter seems to be improving.
"He is definitely looking better so we are hopeful that his health will continue to improve.
"Peter is stubborn enough for it not to beat him. He is a very strong character, which is just what you need to be to fight cancer."
Mr Wells said he is very grateful that the civil partnership, brought in by the Government in January, was an option that was available to him and Mr Howard.
He said: "The most important thing about the civil partnership is that it recognises our relationship in law, which will be important if the worst comes to the worst. But it is also a sign of our commitment to each other. We never needed that in the past but it does make a difference."
The two men have a great deal in common, notably their love for animals, especially dogs. Their German shepherd Anubis was an honoured guest at the ceremony.
Also present were Mr Howard's three children by his previous marriage Sean, 29, Michelle, 26, and Kimberley, 24.
from This Is Wiltshire