A mum who was told her pain was caused by her contraceptive coil has now learned she has terminal cancer. Emma Rice, 32, said she first started experiencing symptoms back in February 2021 when she had discomfort and began bleeding heavily from her vagina.
A doctor first believed her contraceptive coil - a T-shaped device inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy - had become dislodged, reports MEN. However, scans have since revealed the devastating truth - with the mum, from Liverpool, diagnosed with stage-four terminal ovarian cancer in January this year.
Despite undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the cancer has spread and Emma was told she had around a year to live. With potentially just months left, the community rallied round to throw Emma and her childhood sweetheart Dava the perfect wedding on April 29.
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Dava, a warehouse operator, said: “It was the best time of my life. My heart hasn't moved past that day - I'm still living it now. She finally got the day she deserved. We couldn't have done it all without Louise's help - she was incredible and we're so grateful.”
Emma's best friend, Louise Bell, 29, helped organise "the perfect wedding day" with local businesses donating the venue, cake, cars, DJ, and photographer for free. Emma has since gone into St John's Hospice, at Clatterbridge Hospital, Wirral, where she is regularly being visited by Dava and their three kids David Jr, 11, Keeley-Mae, 10, and six-year-old Ariela.
Emma, who worked as a sunbed shop manager, added: "The wedding day lived up to my expectations and went beyond what I thought was possible. I felt like a princess on the day."
Emma and Dava first met as teens through friends, when she was 16 and he was 17, and have been together ever since. The mum-of-three visited the GP with symptoms in February 2021, and was told the pain was due to her contraceptive coil becoming 'misaligned' and 'lacerating' her womb. But the pain intensified, so Emma sought advice from a specialist.
Dava said: "The GP was convinced it was the coil. They said, 'you're too young for it to be anything else.'
"But she was so anaemic, she was passing out from blood loss and the pain. The moment the specialist looked at her cervix, she said she had never seen one that looked like that that wasn't cancer."
Emma was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer in February 2022 and referred to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Liverpool, for treatment. She experienced acute kidney damage after her first dose of chemotherapy, so she went straight into five weeks of radiotherapy, which finished in October 2021.
The couple were hopeful when Emma went for a PET scan in January 2023, but their world was ''shattered'' when they heard the results. Dava said: "The cancer had spread. We asked how long she had, and they said about a year - our whole world came crashing down.
"Every day feels like it's going too fast when you've got a deadline. We always dreamed of getting married one day, but we were never in a financial position to afford it and life got in the way. But I was determined to marry her while I still could."
With Emma’s health deteriorating, best friend Louise stepped up to help them organise a wedding. She contacted local businesses and was blown away by the response, with many offering their services for free.
Emma's family even chipped in and her grandma, Mari Clarke, paid for the rings. Dava added: "Emma did amazingly on the day even though she was tired.
"We're so grateful for everyone's amazing support. The hospice has been incredible.
"It's been very tough on the children to see their mum getting sick, but they've been so strong. Emma and I are so proud of them and we're making the most of our time left together."
Emma is determined to spread awareness around the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer. "I'm overwhelmed and proud to be part of a community that comes together to help those in need," she added.
"I have suffered physically in ways that I never knew possible - I have had my life and family taken away from me. But if I can raise awareness to save at least one woman from this unnecessarily destroying them and those around them, then I am happy to be in this fight."
