IN SICKN & IN HEA

Nicholas wasn’t going to let his serious illness stand in the way of his special day

- ROBYN LUCAS

HIS eyes flooded with tears as he watched his beautiful bride walking down the aisle towards him. Nicholas Venter had never felt such love for her as he did in that moment – despite the overwhelming odds that were stacked against him, there she was willing to commit herself to him and become his wife.

Although Laetitia van den Heever looked the picture of happiness, everyone present was aware of the heartache probably awaiting her – of the devastating blow that life had dealt her groom.

Just a few months earlier, Nicholas (33) from Fontainebleau in Johannesburg had received the dreadful news. After discovering a lump in his back he underwent tests which revealed that he had spindle cell neoplasm cancer, a particularly aggressive form of cancer which had spread. Basically it was everywhere – his spine, lungs, liver, stomach, muscles and brain.

He was told there was nothing that could be done and that at best he had two weeks to live. His doctor advised him to go home and make sure his will and other matters were in order. “When I received my diagnosis, it was like I was staring death right in the eyes,” he recalls.

But Nicholas wasn’t willing to just throw in the towel.

“In that moment, I realised that everything you do, you should do positively because life can be cut short in a split second,” he tells us.

He had too much to live for – just a few months earlier he’d popped the question and to his delight Laetitia (37) had said yes.

They’d been saving up for their dream wedding and were looking forward to spending the rest of their lives together.