Fighting Together - Couple's Cancer Heartbreak

Tragically, for one it's terminal

- Cloe Willetts

Since falling madly in love 11 years ago, Jennie and Craig Gutry have always been amazed by just how much they have in common. They both love salsa dancing and decadent food, travel and being on the water. And sadly for the devoted pair, they both also know what it’s like to be diagnosed with bowel cancer.

The difference, however, is Jennie is in remission from the disease that struck her last year, while Craig, who was diagnosed six months after his love, has been told it’s terminal.

“I have this lovely husband and I don’t get to keep him,” says Jennie with tears pouring down her face. “To know I was sorted out, but then find out Craig’s can’t be fixed, it’s just so unfair.”

The brave Foxton couple are speaking out about their joint battle to mark Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. It’s over a decade since they first met at a karate class on the Kapiti Coast, where Craig was the teacher and Jennie a student. They began chatting on an online dating site, where Jennie was in search of a salsa partner.

Speaking to Woman’s Day from their rural retreat, the couple laugh about their first café date in 2008, when Craig destroyed three sugar sachets before managing to pour one into his coffee.