A man has married his fiancée's corpse at her funeral to keep a promise he made to her while she was dying.
Xu Shinan, 35, married his partner after she died following a five-and-a-half-year battle with breast cancer.
Thirty-four-year-old Yang Liu slipped into a coma on 6 October and sadly passed away on 14 October.
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Shinan, from Dalian in the north-eastern Chinese peninsula of Liaodong, married her at the funeral parlour in front of their loved ones, while a montage of their 12-year relationship played on a screen.
Opening up about his girlfriend's final days, he said: "She no longer recognised me, and in the end we didn't get a chance to say farewell."
The couple met while at university in 2007 and had planned on getting hitched back in 2013, but put their plans on hold after Yang began to experience pains in her breast and was diagnosed with cancer.
When she was just 28, Liu was given then tragic news that she had just five years to live.
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Liu, who was called a 'star patient' by the doctors who treated her, was given chemotherapy and radiotherapy and shared her experiences on Chinese social media Weibo, where she offered support to others going through a similar situation.
Off the back of her social media presence, a national broadcast reached out to her for an interview, but she declined as she didn't wish to appear on TV while she was so ill.
At one point, the couple thought Liu had managed to beat the disease and they started to plan their wedding again, but they were then given the horrific news that the cancer had spread to other parts of her body and was terminal.
Local media reports that heart-broken Shinan stayed by his deceased girlfriend's side 24 hours a day for a whole week after she died.
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At the funeral, Liu was dressed in a white gown, while Shinan wore a smart suit.
Speaking at the tear-jerking service, he said: "All I can do is to fulfil your wish and letting you wear this wedding dress fulfils my wish."
Featured Image Credit: AsiaWire
Topics: World News, China