A dad-of-five who went to the doctor with a runny nose and was later diagnosed with cancer, is trying to 'cram everything in' before he dies – with his biggest wish being to marry his partner of 25 years.
When Gary Holmes started vomiting uncontrollably and having issues with his sinuses he went to the doctors and was given antibiotics for a suspected a condition called 'nose leak'.
When his symptoms got worse, he was given the devastating news that he had incurable cancer – a tumour in his oesophagus which spread to his liver, Derbyshire Live reports .
He now desperately wants to "hurry along" his wedding to Kirsty Burroughs before it is too late and do as many things on his bucket list as possible – like riding a horse in a race.
The 49-year-old, said: "I want to cram everything in and make memories.
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"I feel like I am galloping into the unknown at 1,000 miles an hour.
"Top of the list is getting married. I would do it tomorrow if I could.
"But we have to be realistic. We are not millionaires so there are some things we can’t do. The problem is time, we don’t know how much time we have so we have to act quickly.
"I also want to ride a horse in a race. My son is a jockey at Newmarket and I would love to race alongside him.
"To be honest there is not much that I particularly want to do I just want to be with my family."
Garry’s first thought was for his five children Dallon, 22, Oliver, 19, Sam, 15, George, 14, Lauren, 11.
He decided the best thing would be to be honest with them but keep things as normal as possible.
For Garry, the past four weeks have been a "blur" but he is constantly getting reminders of his uncertain future.
He said: "All this has happened within a month so it has been a bit too much to take in.
"I almost can’t believe it and then it hits me.
"My daughter Lauren is eleven and she has been learning a dance for school. She has been practising to the music which is called Memories by Maroon 5.
"The other day she came and sat with me and held my hand. She turned to me and said you are not going to be here for very long dad.
"It broke me.
"I just said, 'I know but I will always be with you and I will always love you sweetheart'.
"I just can’t believe this is happening to us."
Garry and Kirsty, 47, were discussing marriage before his devastating diagnosis.
Now the pair want to "hurry the wedding along" and cherish their time together.
Kirsty, who works at McDonald’s in Stretton, said: "At the moment we are just in shock. We have been in a weird bubble since we got the news but we have to stay strong for the kids.
"It feels like my whole world has sunk.
"The one thing I am looking forward to is becoming Mrs Holmes. I can’t wait."
Garry has put together a list of things he wants to do before he dies.
The pair say they have been overwhelmed with the generosity from the wider community who are rallying round to raise money for Garry’s Bucket List and are donating their own experiences for the family to enjoy.
Kirsty said: "This is the worst news especially before Christmas but people have been so kind."
The family have set up a GoFundMe page to raise cash.
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