ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
Subscribe
There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

Back from the brink!

Back from the brink!

A cockatoo proposed to me!

A cockatoo proposed to me!

Brave Ellie - 420 days in hospital for a new heart!

Brave Ellie - 420 days in hospital for a new heart!

I woke up with no hands and feet

I woke up with no hands and feet

{headline}

{headline}

How chalk found me love!

How chalk found me love!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

{headline}

{headline}

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

Born with no hands - but nothing will stop my boy

Born with no hands - but nothing will stop my boy

Dumped wife's revenge: 'Be fabulous!'

Dumped wife's revenge: 'Be fabulous!'

I LOVE the skin I'm in!

I LOVE the skin I'm in!

I became an ice addict at 40 - Now I'm helping others

I became an ice addict at 40 - Now I'm helping others

  1. Home
  2. Real Life

How these Aussie newlyweds defied a terminal illness

Young couple refused to let a devastating diagnosis stand in their way - by that's life!
  • 15 Jun 2017
How these Aussie newlyweds defied a terminal illness

Many new relationships face challenges, but one young Australian couple were given a devastating blow just months after they began dating.

Yolanda Blamires, 22, met her husband Nathan, also 22, in 2013 during her first week at university. Within weeks the pair became best friends.

‘I felt so comfortable around him,’ Yolanda told that’s life! ‘Our favourite thing was to just grab a pizza and watch Breaking Bad at my share house. As time passed though, my feelings for him grew.’

Then, in May 2015, Yolanda and Nathan admitted they had fallen for each other.

But six months into their relationship, Yolanda started feeling unwell and showing signs of jaundice.

Concerned, she visited her GP who organised a liver biopsy.

Yolanda and Nathan Blamires at Disneyland Paris

Yolanda and Nathan at Disneyland Paris. Image supplied.

‘A week later Mum and I were listening to my biopsy results. We sat in shock as the specialist told us I had a 7cm tumour in my liver,’ Yolanda explained.

Despite her own fears, she immediately worried about Nathan and whether her illness would be too much for him to take on.

She even told him he didn’t have to stay with her. ‘He didn’t sign up for this,’ she said.

But Nathan had other ideas. ‘He told me he wasn’t going anywhere,’ she said. ‘I realised he was one in a million.’

Worse news was to follow and further tests showed the cancer was terminal. Yolanda was given just months to live.

Yolanda said her partner’s refusal to leave her to face her illness alone had meant the world. ‘With Nathan’s strength and commitment I came to term with the diagnosis,’ she said.

Just one month later, Nathan took Yolanda on a bush walk to a beautiful waterfall. 

‘Then Nathan got down on one knee,’ Yolanda explained. “Will you marry me?” he asked, holding out a gold diamond ring.’

...

Moments after Nathan's proposal. Image supplied.

Yolanda was over the moon, and the pair busily began planning their wedding for the following January.

‘Despite our rush, it was the perfect day,’ Yolanda said. ‘We exchanged vows in front of our loves ones under a beautiful oak tree. Twirling on the dance floor with Nathan was one of the happiest moments of my life.’

Eighteen months on, Yolanda credits Nathan as the reason she has defied her initially prognosis.

A course of chemotherapy has shrunk the tumour by half, but Yolanda believes she has around a year left to live.

Yolanda said she was enormously grateful for the sacrifices Nathan had made to his career to allow him to care for her and for the pair to travel together.

She also hopes that, when the time comes, Nathan will find happiness again.

‘I want him to meet someone,’ she said. ‘He says he can’t picture himself with anyone else, but I want another girl to be as happy as he’s made me.

‘For now, we’re making the most of every day. Our love might burn briefly, but it burns bright.’

...

The young couple on honeymoon. Image supplied.

Yolanda and Nathan's full story, along with other Australian real-life stories, is featured in issue 25 of that's life! on sale now.

...

Subscribe to That's Life Weekly for your chance to win a share in $25,000-

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life Weekly for your chance to win a share in $25,000

Subscribe to That's Life Weekly for your chance to win a share in $25,000-

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life Weekly for your chance to win a share in $25,000

Recommended to you

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

Back from the brink!

Back from the brink!

A cockatoo proposed to me!

A cockatoo proposed to me!

Brave Ellie - 420 days in hospital for a new heart!

Brave Ellie - 420 days in hospital for a new heart!

I woke up with no hands and feet

I woke up with no hands and feet

{headline}

{headline}

How chalk found me love!

How chalk found me love!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Gone for 13 minutes – then my boy came back to life!

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

Pregnant at 51 – My mum had my baby

{headline}

{headline}

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

Brave Bella - saved by her twin!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

We found $40,000 in our garage!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

I SHAVED my head on my WEDDING day!

Born with no hands - but nothing will stop my boy

Born with no hands - but nothing will stop my boy

Dumped wife's revenge: 'Be fabulous!'

Dumped wife's revenge: 'Be fabulous!'

I LOVE the skin I'm in!

I LOVE the skin I'm in!

I became an ice addict at 40 - Now I'm helping others

I became an ice addict at 40 - Now I'm helping others

ThatsLife
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy
ThatsLife Magazine Subscribe
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • New Idea
  • Who
  • Girlfriend
  • Practical Parenting

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • New Idea food
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • 7plus
  • 7News
  • Health Engine
  • Starts at 60
  • The West Australian
  • Perth Now
  • Airtasker
  • Society One
© 2021 Are Media PTY LTD
Get more from

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to That's Life Weekly for your chance to win a share in $25,000-

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to That's Life Weekly for your chance to win a share in $25,000