A young Kerry mother married her boyfriend in the Bon Secours hospital in Tralee last week, less than 48 hours before she died from bone cancer.
Ms Denise Griffin (20), died on Wednesday, December 16th, after an 18-month battle with the disease which was diagnosed nine months after the birth of her daughter, Erika.
On the Monday before her death, Denise married Erika's father, Mr Eamon Griffin (24), in a simple ceremony attended by close family and friends. Originally, Denise and Eamon had planned a much larger affair, and even as the illness progressed, Denise continued to plan, remarking that the number on the guest-list had reached 167. However, she also faced the likelihood that her illness was terminal and began making arrangements for her funeral. She asked for yellow roses for her family and for hymns to be sung by Tralee singer Bill Corcoran. While receiving treatment, Denise fulfilled another ambition - to learn to drive - eventually using an automatic car when the illness started to affect her legs. She also enjoyed a family holiday in the Canaries last April.
Denise expressed two hopes - to marry her boyfriend Eamon and to see her daughter, now aged two, start school.
She entered the Bon Secours Hospital shortly after she and Eamon had celebrated her 20th birthday with a meal in Tralee on October 10th. When her conditioned worsened, on Friday, December 11th, Eamon received permission from Denise's parents, Denis and Eleanor Cronin, to go ahead with the hospital wedding. They were married by Fr Padraig Walsh the following Monday.
Preaching at the Requiem Mass at St John's Church in Tralee on December 18th, Fr Walsh said the family had lost a very determined person of great strength of mind and of "great singleness of spirit". "Denise knew more than anybody else that recovery was not to be," he said. "She spoke very calmly about death and in the end she had no fear."