By Dave GooderhamA WOMAN battling the threat of breast cancer has had her fairytale wedding come true when she remarried her husband – seven years after they divorced.

By Dave Gooderham

A WOMAN battling the threat of breast cancer has had her fairytale wedding come true when she remarried her husband – seven years after they divorced.

Janet and Tom Maynard tied the knot for a second time on Valentine's Day, having originally been married for 25 years.

Mrs Maynard, who revealed she was battling breast cancer and could be forced into having a mastectomy, said her husband had been her one true love and Saturday's wedding had been perfect – after the couple were married in a register office in London in the 1970s.

She said: "It was fantastic day and I was so overwhelmed I couldn't stop crying. I felt like I'd won the Lottery but this is like a Lottery for life.

"It may have been a bit wintry outside, but in my heart it felt like spring. The whole day was my fairytale come true."

Bravely talking about her condition, Mrs Maynard, 49, added: "I have cried so many tears that I don't think I have got any left.

"But I now think that I have to laugh or I won't be any good to myself or my family. The wedding has given me so much strength and it just seems to have put things into perspective.

"Tom and my family have been wonderful and it has made me realise that you should do everything as if it is your last day as you never know when you are not going to open your eyes in the morning."

Mrs Maynard was diagnosed in January and is now undergoing consultation to determine how serious the tumour is.

The wedding was a true family affair with the couple's eldest son Graham, 31, giving his mother away, while their other son Jason, 27, was best man and grandchildren Jessica, six, Georgia, four, Lauren, two, and Claudia, one, were all bridesmaids.

The couple, who live in Bridewell Close in Mildenhall, were married for 25 years before getting divorced seven years ago.

Mrs Maynard said: "When we split, the only way Tom could handle the situation was to get away and have no contact with me or his children.

"He came back into our lives – and seen our boys turn into men – and when we first got back together, it was so emotional and touching for everyone.

"The first time I didn't get married in a church and I wasn't wearing white. When Tom asked me again, I said I wanted a fairytale wedding with all my dreams coming true."

It was February 14 last year, that Mr Maynard, 50, recaptured his wife's heart and brought his family together again.

Mrs Maynard explained: "Last Valentine's Day, I got a card out of the blue from Tom and I started shaking with excitement like I was 16 years old again.

"He said being apart for seven years was like someone had cut his leg off and that he had never stopped loving me. I'll never love anyone like I love Tom. He was my first love and he'll be my last."

The newly-weds had to get special permission from the Church of England to remarry at St Mary's Church in Mildenhall, but were given the go-ahead after the intervention of the Rev Anthony Spencer.

"Rev Spencer really put himself out for us to get permission and the service was so deep and meaningful and summed our whole wedding up," said Mrs Maynard. "The whole day was very personal and it was certainly a Valentine's Day we won't be forgetting in a hurry."

dave.gooderham@eadt.co.uk