Andrea and Paul Annear were married in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, in 2004. They first met in a home for children with learning disabilities when she was just 3 years old – the pair became friends and were later described as "inseparable".

She died of heart failure, due to a long-term heart condition linked to her disability.

The couple fought against medical opinion, social workers, and their own carers to have a big traditional wedding in the church they attended every week.

Doctors argued that the couple shouldn't be married because of the risk of Andrea becoming pregnant if they started a sexual relationship – Andrea's heart condition meant that a pregnancy could potentially kill her.

But as she told the Daily Mail in 2006:

Paul asked me to marry him and I told him yes. I cried – some big fat tears went down my face because I was so happy.



Paul got down on his knee and said: 'Will you marry me?' and I said: 'Yes.' I loved him so much I could actually feel it inside my heart. I had seen pictures of ladies getting married, in magazines, and I wanted to look like that, too.



I wanted to have a pretty white dress, and I wanted Paul to have a smart suit and I wanted to be with him always. That is what marriage means – to love somebody and to be with them always.