Woman who battled cancer twice before age 26 at Leeds hospital celebrates her first wedding anniversary

Rebecca Moss, now 27, was just 20 years old when she received a diagnosis of aggressive cancer in 2016.

A month later, her boyfriend of five years, Kris Moss, 28, who works in agriculture, proposed and Rebecca swiftly underwent regular chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma.

Rebecca was given the all-clear, but four years later she started to experience a "worrying" pain in her left side.

Doctors performed a biopsy and diagnosed her with Ewings Sarcoma. In February 2022, she started eight months of chemotherapy.

A year later, Kris and Rebecca decided to get married and organised a wedding in just one month - with friends and family rallying around to help.

And two days after they tied the knot, Rebecca underwent a successful five-month in-patient trial at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Rebecca's chemotherapy treatment is currently on pause with doctors describing her tumours as "stable".

Sign up today and get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox, with the YEP’s free newsletter

The nail technician from Wilderfoss, York, said: "It was the perfect day. After the emotional trial treatment, I was all over the place but Kris and I knew we wanted to get married.

"It had been the plan for us to get engaged, buy and house and then get married- but life doesn't work that way.

"Picking my wedding dress and my dad walking me down the aisle were things I feared I'd never be able to do, but they were both magical.

"Kris is the love of my life and being able to say I'm his wife is a dream come true. I didn't think I'd see my first wedding anniversary but here we are.

"For a long time, I thought I'd be leaving Kris and my family behind but now I feel more hopeful."

After discovering a lump on her neck in October 2016, Rebecca was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma - a blood cancer that can quickly spread through the body.

Medics had caught it early and she quickly underwent six months of chemotherapy for the tumour on her neck.

During her treatment, Rebecca's childhood boyfriend popped the question over a home-cooked meal at their home in York, on 25 November, 2016.

Following eight months of successful treatment at York Hospital, medics gave Rebecca the all-clear.

The pair enjoyed being newly engaged, hoping to save up for a house before beginning wedding planning.

But in December 2021, Rebecca was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a cancer that occurs primarily in the bone and soft tissue.

Due to Rebecca's previous health history, her doctors gave a prognosis of prompt chemotherapy and radiotherapy which she began the following month.

Despite eight months of treatment, doctors decided to schedule Rebecca for an in-patient trial to treat a tumour in the middle of her chest that the previous radiotherapy couldn't get to.

The five-month trial mean Rebecca had to remain in a Leeds hospital throughout the experimental chemotherapy. With her trial booked for February 2023, the couple decided they wanted to tie the knot beforehand.

"Doctors said that if I didn't start the trial, I wouldn't be alive in a few years'', Rebecca said.

"At this point, we both just agreed that we wanted to get married before I underwent a new round of treatment.

"Friends and family rallied around and helped us book the venue, church, flowers and a DJ. They even set up a GoFundMe page that raised over £3,000 towards our wedding."

On 18 February 2023, the pair finally said their vows in front of 100 guests followed by a reception at Burtonfields Hall in Stamford Bridge.

Two days after the big day, on 20 February 2023, Rebecca started a successful five-month trial in-patient trial at a Leeds hospital.

She said: ''We've been married for nearly a year and every day I'm thankful. My twenties had been dominated by health worries, so to marry my best friend who has been with me throughout was amazing.

"I take every day as it comes but here's hoping for a lifetime more."