Cancer fighter Felix Glenny, 23, of Lower Stoke passed away last night following a battle with the disease
Published: 00:00, 12 January 2014
Updated: 08:51, 12 January 2014
A young dad who married his sweetheart after finding out he had incurable cancer has died.
Ryan Glenny, who goes by his middle name Felix, and his wife Cola, have two small children.
They married in an emotional ceremony at Medway Maritime Hospital just before Christmas.
Fundraiser and friend Ashley Clark said Mr Glenny died yesterday evening.
When news of their wedding was revealed, a fund set up by friends to help Felix’s family soared to £48,000 in just a couple of days.
The total now stands at over £58,000.
“When I first saw Felix in hospital," Mr Clark said, "money was all he seemed to be worried about, so hopefully I have taken that worry away.”
Within 24 hours of Mr Clark setting up the fundraising appeal, almost £2,000 was raised, with more than 100 people donating from as far away as Australia.
X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne, herself a cancer survivor, was among those touched by the couple’s story and donated £10,000.
She sent a message saying: “Never give up the fight and hope”.
Mr Glenny, 23, of Lower Stoke, was admitted to hospital in November with stomach pains.
The couple were told it was cancer and that it was terminal on son Ralph’s second birthday.
They swiftly set about making their dream come true by organising a wedding.
Felix’s illness meant it had to be in hospital so they organised a quiet ceremony in the hospital chapel followed by a prayer service in the social club attended by more relatives and friends.
The bridegroom was able to sit in a wheelchair during the service led by the Rev Steve Spencer, the senior chaplain at the hospital.
He blessed the marriage and led prayers for the couple’s two children, Ralph, two, and four-month-old Pearl.
Ralph was a pageboy at the wedding.
The couple chose Ellie Goulding’s How Long Will I Love You as their wedding song.
His diagnosis was all the more heartbreaking following the death of his mother from bowel cancer three years ago, aged 41.
His grandfather also died of the disease last year.
Tributes have begun flooding in via the fundraising page and on Facebook and Twitter..
Leave your tributes to Mr Glenny below.