A nurse is celebrating her engagement after her dying Dad wrote a letter giving the marriage his blessing.

When children’s nurse Sophie Randell, 28, opened her note, she discovered Mike had given her boyfriend his blessing to propose after he’d passed away from bowel cancer. 

Two years later, Ash Humphrey has been down on one knee to officially ask for her hand in marriage at the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

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Before sitting down to plan the wedding Sophie, Ash, her mum, Jane and siblings, Matthew, Emily, and Luke, have decided to Stand Up To Cancer in Mike’s memory.

(Image: Stuart Martin for CRUK) Sophie, from Hythe, said: "My dad would be really happy to know I’m engaged and it means a lot to have his blessing. He told me in his letter that even though it will be a bittersweet moment, to remember that it’s our day, to be positive and that he’d be right there with me, just not in body.

"We always hoped that there would be a new treatment that might make Dad’s cancer go away so he could share moments like this, but it just didn’t happen for him. Now we’re sharing our story to help accelerate life-saving research and give other people the chance to live longer."

Sophie and her family hope they will inspire others to take part in Stand Up To Cancer’s 100 squats a day challenge in November for Cancer Research UK.

(Image: Family collection) Sophie added: "My dad was always keen for people to donate towards research after his death to find out more about the disease. He had none of the traditional bowel cancer symptoms when he was diagnosed and only got checked after he struggled to get over a bout of flu.

"It was so upsetting to have it confirmed that my Dad, who was just 56 and due to retire the following day, had stage 4 bowel cancer.

"He passed away with us all by his side in October 2022.

“My mum explained to us that dad had written a letter for each of us. He encouraged us to live life to the fullest and in my letter, he explained that Ash had asked for my hand in marriage and that he had given him permission to propose.

"It’s so important to me and something I really treasure."

Get involved at su2c.org.uk/get-involved