A TERMINALLY ill man finally fulfilled his dream of getting married with a "lovely" wedding at an Andover hospice.

Gioseph and Belinda Fuga took their vows at The Countess of Brecknock Hospice on Sunday.

The pair, of Cromwell Road, say they "fell in love at sight" during their first date.

Mr Fuga, who has terminal bowel cancer, said they spent their first date at Mrs Fuga's house after he had a hospital appointment.

The 49-year-old said: "We're both quite straight talking people and we've both been through some rubbish in our lives so after my hospital appointment she invited me round for an hour.

"I came round hers and I was there for nine hours, we were chatting for ages.

"It was the longest date of my life.

"I just opened the door and to be honest I thought it was love at first sight - I was absolutely gobsmacked.

"It just progressed quite quickly, fell in love, we just went along with it and [the wedding] just happened. It was lovely."

He did not find out his illness was terminal until after the pair got together.

They married less than ten weeks later with the help of the hospice and registrars Maris Vernon and Pat Morgan.

The pair added they both secretly knew the other was "the one" straight away.

On the first date Mrs Fuga said she saw her now-husband pull into the drive with a massive bunch of roses.

The 53-year-old, who is a palliative care nurse, was visiting Mr Fuga at The Countess of Brecknock Hospice over the Easter bank holiday when nurses mentioned they could hold a wedding at the hospice.

The couple decided this was what they wanted to do and a few days later nurses gave Mrs Fuga the number for the registry office.

With the help of the hospice Mr and Mrs Fuga were married five days later.

Mr Fuga added: "It was beautiful, the nurses put a room together, the registrars were really nice.

"It was really, really nice, it couldn't have been better.

"Everyone bent over backwards to help us.

"It was lovely for them to be there as they made it happen."

The couple said they wanted a simple wedding and enjoyed getting ready together on the day and even bought their wedding rings from Argos.

Mrs Fuga said they are now looking to "make making memories" together, with Joe adding: "We're just treating everyday like it's our last day and enjoying life together, simple as that.

"It's been unbelievable, I can't put into words how much we thank them for what they've done.

"Everyone is really, really lovely and they made everything right.

"I wasn't nervous, they made everything so pleasant."