A dad who was given just a year to live after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour planned his wedding in just one month—determined to create beautiful memories with his family while he still could. David Phillips, 41, first realised something was wrong when he started seeing what looked like bubbles in the floor at work. Initially brushing it off, he later experienced headaches, struggled to find his words, and noticed weakness in his arm. It was his now-wife, Kirby, who urged him to see a doctor, and that decision changed everything.
After being rushed to the emergency medical unit at University Hospital Wales, David underwent a CT scan and MRI. The results were devastating—he had grade 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive and terminal brain tumour. Doctors told him he needed immediate treatment, including an awake craniotomy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, but even with intervention, they gave him a prognosis of just 12 to 14 months.
For David and Kirby, who have been together for 18 years and engaged for eight, wedding plans had always been on the back burner while they saved for a mortgage. But after the diagnosis, David knew he didn’t want to wait any longer, reported Manchester Evening News.
“One of the first things he said was, ‘I want to marry you’,” Kirby recalled. “It was something happy and lovely to focus on. It was a lovely distraction.”
Determined to make it happen, the couple organized their wedding in just a few weeks, tying the knot in a small but perfect ceremony with their closest family—including their two children, Madison, 20, and Mila-Rose, 11—on October 19, 2024. “It was a small, intimate day, but it was just gorgeous and perfect,” Kirby said.
Just weeks before their wedding, David had undergone a gruelling awake craniotomy on September 4 to remove as much of the tumour as possible. Since then, he’s endured six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try to extend his time.
But the fight is far from over. Desperate to explore every possible option, the family is now paying £3,000 a month for a private treatment called modulated electro-hyperthermia, which uses heat to target cancer cells. To help fund the costs, they have been fundraising—and have already received over £13,000 in donations from kind-hearted strangers.
David has also been accepted onto an NHS clinical trial, which will involve another operation to remove more of the tumour before implanting a small medical device. He’ll then receive weekly injections of a drug designed to help repair DNA damage in the cancerous cells.
Kirby is overwhelmed by the generosity of those who have supported them. “David and I have never asked anyone for anything; we are very independent people. We work hard and pride ourselves on doing things ourselves,” she said. “We can’t believe everybody’s kindness and generosity. It is a testament to how much people think of David and want him to get better. I am completely blown away.”
More than anything, Kirby hopes their story will help others. “If someone gets some sort of help from the awareness—if they are experiencing those symptoms and they’ll do something about it—if one person can be helped, that would be amazing.”
For now, David and his family are taking each day as it comes, treasuring the moments they have together and refusing to give up hope.
