WEDDINGS are a chance to find everlasting happiness with the love of your life – and usually that's the person who is walking down the aisle with you.

But for Kerry Swinton, romance took an unusual turn after she met her future fiancé for the first time on her happy day.

The 46-year-old, from Telford, Shropshire, married her now ex-husband in June 2011.

Among the guests was her groom's pal of 20 years, Mark Taylor, 52, with the pair even posing in a group picture together.

But three years later, Kerry's marriage broke down and she filed for divorce in January 2015.

When moving a piano four years later, Kerry, business owner, was looking on Facebook for a local man with a van, when she stumbled across Mark's services.

Employing him for the job, the pair began chatting before Mark ''showed up with a bundle of flowers'' a few months later.

After moving in together, their relationship took another twist after Kerry bravely volunteered to donate a kidney when Mark fell ill in 2021.

Now both recovered, the happy couple are set to get hitched themselves next year and see the funny side of their unusual origin story.

"He was lovely," Kerry says. "Charming and incredibly talkative. It's so funny to see us in old pictures together.

Most read in Fabulous

"I can't believe he's in my wedding pictures. Mark had dated my ex's sister. I've known Mark a long time and I always liked him."

Romance after split

Kerry married her ex husband ''on the hottest day in 2011'' at the Valley Hotel in Ironbridge, Telford. Among the 110 guests that attended was Mark, who arrived with his now ex-wife.

Kerry and her ex-partner went on to have a daughter together, Annabelle, 10, before calling it a day and divorcing.

The business owner threw herself into single life, but after four years of dates and short-term relationships, Kerry decided to stay single to focus on her work.

''I wanted to focus on me and my life for a change,'' she said.

''I threw myself into work and also decided to take up the piano again so I bought an old affordable one on Facebook Marketplace.

''The only problem was it was so large I had to then hire a man and a van.''

Man with a van

After randomly reaching out to Mark, he took the job and delivered it to Kerry's house just days later.

''I've known him for 15 years now," she says. ''We spoke about relationships and he mentioned that he was seeing someone.

''We had a nice catch up and that was that. 'I always liked him, but never thought he was single."

A week later, Mark messaged Kerry about furniture, and they began chatting ''nearly every day''.

Kerry explains: "The flowers were beautiful. He asked me on a date, and we had a lovely day together.

"I could tell immediately I would fall for him."

After a short stint dating, Mark moved into Kerry's home, in November 2020.

But a year later, Mark became began to get agonizing back pain due to a family condition, Polycystic Kidney Disease, a genetic disorder that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow on the kidneys.

Then, on Boxing day 2021, Kerry rushed Mark to the Queen's Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, after a constant nosebleed left them worried.

Hospital dash

Doctors revealed that Mark's kidney function had decreased from 60 per cent to just 6 per cent and immediately put him on dialysis.

While Mark was being put on the machine, Kerry asked if she could be tested to see if her kidney would be suitable for a potential donation.

A couple months later, the team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham revealed that Kerry was indeed a match.

"The chances were so slim," Kerry says. "To think that after finding each other after all those years and to be a match.

"We were so emotional. I ran and told Mark immediately.

"After his both parents passed away due to this condition it was such a relief to him."

Mark adds: "I cried my eyes out. I knew the chance she was taking to save me."

The couple discussed their options, and Kerry decided that she wanted to go ahead.

Just four months later, in September, Kerry headed into a four-hour surgery to remove her organ before Mark's eight hour operation to transplant it.

The transfer was a success, and the two recovered at home before returning to work just six months later.

Mark says: "I never thought delivering a piano would get me a kidney.

"I owe her the world. She's giving me another chance at life."

Happy ending

The pair are now engaged, and they plan to get married next year.

"I feel the absolutely same," Kerry says of the operation. "I feel like more people should do this.

"It's barely affected my ability to work. To think I've changed his life so much.

"I never thought the man I met at my wedding would be my perfect match.

Read more on The Sun

Urgent warning to check sunscreen bottles after woman reveals horror ‘burn’

I’m a fairground whizz – how to win at the games, despite some being rigged

"I thought he was kind but I never imagined he'd end up being the love of my life with one of my organs!

"He had my heart and now he's got my kidney."

Source: Read Full Article