Logan Village in mourning after brave ‘surf’ bride dies from face cancer

A community is in mourning after the death of a bride who made headlines last year when she held a wedding party in the surf at the Gold Coast.

Joanne Colman’s bridal party sitting in the water.

A COMMUNITY is in mourning after the death of a bride who made headlines last year when she held a wedding party in the surf at the Gold Coast.

Logan Village woman Joanne Colman was married to sweetheart Joshua in November knowing a rare cancer which had ravished half her face would kill her in a year.

WEDDING WISH COMES TRUE FOR BRAVE BRIDE

After the wedding, Mrs Colman wanted to give back to the charity which made her big day a reality and decided to hold a beach splash party and charge onlookers for photographs. News of Mrs Colman’s death was announced by the charity My Wedding Day.

The special surf party was held weeks after the November wedding, when Joanne and her girlfriends dressed in their gowns for a toast to the new Mrs Colman sitting in the surf at Main Beach.

But wedded bliss came to an end on Wednesday when Mrs Colman, 23, died after losing her battle to the cancer which demolished one side of her face.

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A special wedding day for Logan Village woman Joanne Colman who died on Wednesday. PICTURE: KAT CHERRY

Her mother Helen Gladigau and bereft sister Alyssa Ditton took to Facebook to pay tribute saying she was “smiling to the very end”.

“She touched so many hearts of many amazing people and we certainly had some heartfelt comments about our beautiful girl.”

Mrs Coleman fell ill with squamous cell carcinoma when she was 20 and had her eye removed, half her mouth and her sinus taken out.

But the cancer was aggressive and doctors told her she only had a year to live. That was when the Logan Village community and the charity swung into action and helped to plan a wedding day she would not forget, complete with a helicopter flight and a horse ride.

Art collector Elizabeth Rae and Joanne’s mum Helen Gladigau.

The day at the beach caught the attention of passers. Art collector Elizabeth Rae donated a painting for the girls to auction after being stunned watching the elegant crowd walk into the water and then sit down in the waves while they had their photos taken to raise money for My Wedding Day.

The organisation gifts ceremonies to the terminally ill and helped plan the couple’s nuptials.

“I often watch parties at The Spit but this caught my eye because when they got to the water’s edge they just kept going,” Mrs Rae said.

“I went and asked them what the occasion was and was told the bride had a terminal illness and was raising funds for a charity she supported. She looked so happy and beautiful.”

Originally published as Logan Village in mourning after brave ‘surf’ bride dies from face cancer