A bride who lost her dad to bowel cancer five months before her wedding left an empty seat for him at her top table.
Stacey Westhead's father was diagnosed with advanced stage four bowel cancer in September 2016 and hadn't told any of his family he had symptoms.
It wasn't until his wife spotted blood in the toilet that she made her husband Tommy see a GP and he was then diagnosed with the disease.
Stacey, from Kirkdale, said her father had lost a lot of weight, however the family thought this was a conscious decision as he was on a diet.
The diagnosis came as Stacey was planning her wedding and tragically, Tommy died five months before the 32-year-old's big day from sepsis.
Dressmaker Stacey's brother was also planning his own wedding and his father's death came three months before his day.
Stacey told the ECHO : "He was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in September 2016.
"He didn't want to go to the GP and didn't tell anyone he had the symptoms.
"It wasn't until my mum saw blood in the toilet that she made him go see a doctor.
"He was losing quite a lot of weight, but he was on a diet at that time and we just thought it was due to that.
"When he was given the diagnosis we were heartbroken."
Tommy had seven months of chemotherapy , which was pallative as the cancer had spread to his liver and lungs.
On May 5, 2017, Tommy died from sepsis the day before his 64th birthday.
As a fitting tribute to her father, Stacey called her wedding the 'Tommy party' and had poignant memories of him placed throughout her big day.
She saved an empty seat for her dad at the top table and her first dance with her husband was David Bowie's Life on Mars as her father was "obsessed" with Mars and loved to learn about the planet.
The 32-year-old also had a piece of her father's suit in sewn into her wedding dress in a heart-shape so he could carry her down the aisle and be with her throughout the day.
The bride's bouquet also contained lockets which held photos of her dad inside and his handwriting tattooed on her arm.
She added: "At every appointment my dad asked the doctors if he was going to be there for the wedding, he had no intention that he wasn't going to be there.
"When he died my brother and his partner and my partner and I held hands with my dad and the priest blessed the engagement rings."
Now the dressmaker has made it her mission for people to be more aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer and has set up an initiative called #TheTommyMovement.
These are posters placed in bars, restaurant and shop toilets in the likes of McDonald's and Bierkeller which display the Bowel Cancer UK symptoms to make people aware of the signs.
Stacey has also volunteered at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and raised money for the Marina Dalglish Centre at Aintree Hospital.
The 32-year-old is now fundraising for Bowel Cancer UK with a week-long bake sale - you can donate to her JustGiving page here .
