Nelson Curyer is fighting each day to marry the love of his life, Britteney Fitzpatrick

A year ago Nelson Curyer proposed to his girlfriend of four years Britteney Fitzpatrick but then everything had to be put on hold.

Nelson Curyer and Britteney Fitzpatrick at their West Croydon home. Pictured on October 27th 2023. Picture: Ben Clark

A year ago Nelson Curyer got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend of four years in front of a shack in the Yorke Peninsula.

After a “big yes” Nelson and Britteney Fitzpatrick went for a beach walk and had a romantic dinner, before driving back to Adelaide so Nelson could return to the hospital for cancer treatment.

The now 24-year-old was diagnosed just after his 21st birthday in February 2020 with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer.

“I was scared sh*tless really, I was completely shocked,” the West Croydon man said.

He said when doctors told him he had cancer he thought he was going to die.

While Nelson entered remission after a year of treatments scans revealed his cancer relapsed in early 2022 and it was stage four.

“I was pretty devastated,” he said.

“I knew that pretty much any relapse with my cancer wasn’t good news. It was going to be a lot harder.”

The cancer has spread into the former plumbing apprentice’s lungs and kidneys.

“The prognosis isn’t good, it’s bad,” he said.

“But I always hold onto hope that there’s going to be something I find out there … that could bring me a response.”

Nelson is fighting each and everyday, undergoing a new immunotherapy not covered by Medicare, at a personal cost of $3500 every three weeks, to give himself a fighting chance to make it down the aisle to Ms Fitzpatrick.

“She’s by far my rock, she’s everything to me,” he said.

“Everything is always to do with sticking around for her and trying to achieve our goals together and one of them is obviously, hopefully one day getting married.”

Nelson said the pair, who met through a friend in 2018, were preparing their wedding a while ago but due to his health declining, the plan is on hold.

“I love her to bits,” he said.

“The one thing that scares me the most is if I’m on my deathbed and she’s going to be without me and what’s that going to do to her … that’s one thing I can’t wrap my head around.

“The wedding, I’d love to be able to achieve one day, I just don’t know what my future holds, for my situation it’s not looking very bright but I’m holding onto some hope.”

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Originally published as Nelson Curyer is fighting each day to marry the love of his life, Britteney Fitzpatrick