Brides Tragic Treatment

This is the moment 24-year-old Chen Cuilan gets her final wish - to have a set of wedding photos taken before she dies.

Diagnosed with terminal liver cancer at a hospital in Chongqing in southwestern China and with just six months to live, she told her husband Zeng Sai, 27, that she regretted that they had never been able to afford to have wedding pictures done.

He said: "We both came here as migrant workers. We never had much money but we had each other and we were very happy. We married in 2008 and our happiness was complete when our daughter Zeng Xingyue was born in 2009.

"Chen Cuilan had been getting stomach pains for some time but we had been too poor to go to a doctor straight away - when we did go in May this year we were told she had terminal cancer. My world ended when I heard that. When she said she wished we had done the pictures at the wedding - I knew what I had to do and straight away arranged to borrow the money."

The photos cost just 200 euros - equivalent to a months salary for the dad who will soon have to care for their daughter alone.

He said: "With the medical bills and the continuing treatment costs it was a struggle. But I found the cash by borrowing from friends - then I found my wife's dress and brought it to her at the hospital - it was great to see her smile.

"I took her in a wheelchair to the studio - when the photographer saw us crying rather than laughing he asked why and when he heard our story he refunded our deposit. "And he came back the next day to reshoot with our daughter in the pictures as well, again for free."

The bride's mother who was present at the second shoot had to hide behind a mirror so her daughter did not see her tears - and there was not a dry eye in the hospital as the couple's daughter hugged her mum and begged her to come home with them. Chen Cuilan said: "I think she sensed something was wrong. But she is a brave girl - she will understand."

Doctors believe that she has six months to live if she follows her medication - but without treatment she could die at any day.

She said: "We could not afford the wedding pictures - I always regretted it. Now I am content in the love of my husband and my daughter who have done this for me - and I hope they will think on me when they see the pictures."

Husband Zeng Sai agreed saying: "It was a day of beauty for us all to remember. She looked as lovely as the day we were married - but it was so hard to stay brave and smile."

Although doctors say Chen Cuilan's condition is terminal, good medication will help to extend her life and Journalism Without Borders is collecting donations to help pay for this and to help clear the family's debt from previous treatment.