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MIDDLESBROUGH, England — A young mother battling cancer wasn't looking for love during her life-saving treatments, but is now set to marry after finding love with her ambulance driver.
Five years ago, Lynsey Austin was rushed to the hospital after suffering from severe pain and bruising in her legs that left her unable to move. It was then she got the crushing diagnosis that she had leukemia.
"I only cried once," Austin, 36, told the Evening Gazette. "There was that much going on you just have to suck it up."
Her leukemia treatments meant a long chemotherapy course and many trips to the hospital. Fortunately, she was able to use the Patient Transport Service in the U.K. According to the National Health Service website, ambulance transport is offered to "drive disabled, elderly and vulnerable people to and from outpatient clinics, daycare centres and routine hospital admissions. They often see the same people on a regular basis and get to know them."
And at the time, Austin didn't know how life-changing her ambulance rides would be. She figured she would have to face her cancer treatments alone with her 13-year-old son Ethan. It wasn't until 2009 that Austin met Glenn Harker on the way back from yet another visit.
"I was going for a bone marrow biopsy and he made me laugh all the way," Austin said.
After their initial contact, 42-year-old Harker found Austin on Facebook.
They say you find love in the strangest places. It is surreal when you think about it.
–Lynsey Austin
"We just started chatting and it went from there," she said.
Additional complications, including a heart infection and two heart attacks, meant a lot more hospital visits for Austin and a lot more rides for the new friends. They quickly started dating and Harker proposed to Austin on her birthday last year. She says he's been the best support for her and Ethan.
"My health's not been great, I still had to go back in for biopsies, and have had problems with my lungs," Austin said, "but Glenn has been fantastic, a rock for me and my son."
Austin was declared to be in remission three months ago and the happy couple is currently planning their wedding with help from Austin's son. She is enjoying living what many would call an act of fate.
"There's no need for exaggeration, it just is what it is," she said.
Austin concedes to the Evening Gazette there probably aren't many people who would say they're better off after getting diagnosed with cancer.
"They say you find love in the strangest places," Austin said. "It is surreal when you think about it."
