They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and, it’s true—in some cases scarily so.
When Emma Cotillard looked back at her wedding photos, she discovered something she wished she had seen earlier.
After 33-year-old Emma married the love of her life, Justin Cotillard, she looked forward to a romantic honeymoon. But what she didn’t know was that the trip would turn into a nightmare.
It started one morning when Justin started screaming at Emma to leave the room. Because Emma was seven months pregnant, she was extra emotional and reacted strongly to her husband’s surprising behavior. And it just got worse.
“He didn’t remember that I was seven months pregnant with our first baby. He thought I was a stranger,” she told the Daily Mail.
Facebook/Emma Cotillard
Because Justin was only 29 years old, the symptoms were even more alarming. The couple had to cancel the rest of their trip and return to their home in England, where a shocking message was waiting for them.
Justin had an aggressive brain tumor, and the doctors said that he only had two years left to live.
Facebook/Emma Cotillard
On the same day as Emma gave birth to the couple’s first daughter, Mia, Justin started his cancer treatment and wasn’t able to welcome his baby girl into the world.
Facebook/Emma Cotillard
Despite the treatment, Justin’s cancer quickly spread. Emma remembers the horrifying words from Justin’s doctors.
“They gave me two weeks to take my husband home before he died,” she says.
In May 2016, Justin passed away. Now, the couple’s daughter will have to grow up without her dad.
Everything went so fast that no one had suspected a brain tumor. But afterward, Emma did some thinking.
“Looking at the wedding photos now, you can see that the right side of his face is droopy,” says Emma.
Emma has shared her story with the media because she wants to encourage others to seek medical attention when the slightest symptom appears. Lives can be prolonged or saved when a tumor is detected early. Please share this article to help spread Emma’s message.