Brave Tija loses her long cancer battle

Feb 25 2010 by Eva Ketley, North Wales Weekly News

IT seemed the perfect love story when Gareth and Tija Tanner-Owen married after a whirlwind romance.

But only four months later Tija was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and last week lost her battle against the disease.

Gareth says it was agonising seeing her slowly decline even though she was determined not to give in to it.

“She was very brave. We only had four months together after our wedding before the cancer came back,” he said.

“Tija was told she had only weeks to live but was determined to live as full a life as possible, and she did just that.”

Gutsy Tija, 56, married Rhyl Pavilion Theatre manager Gareth, 60, in a private ceremony at Llandudno register office in February 2008, despite pain from the spinal cancer which had been diagnosed the previous August.

When Tija was told the cancer she had thought she’d beaten had returned with a vengeance and was now in her spine, she vowed to live life to the full.

She explained in an interview last year: “I was told I had cancer 10 weeks after we got engaged and had set our date for Valentine’s week.

“I initially thought we would cancel, but then we talked and I decided I could not let cancer rule my life and we carried on.”

She later enjoyed holidays in Tunisia and Egypt, as well as a cruise to Scandinavia and Russia, and through selling her craftwork managed to raise over £3,000 for Llandudno’s St David’s Hospice.

Croatia-born Tija and Gareth began dating after meeting at Theatr Colwyn, where she was working part-time.

After a whirlwind romance Gareth proposed.

“I think we both knew right from the start that we wanted to be together. I loved her energy and enthusiasm for life and our personalities seemed to blend,” he said.

“It was a terrible shock when only a short time after our wedding we were told the breast cancer Tija had survived seven years before had returned and was now in her spine.

“Even though she was in a wheelchair we managed to get out and about. We visited places we wanted to see and attended lots of functions. Tija loved dressing up and always looked so smart,” he recalled.

Gareth was at Tija’s bedside at St David’s Hospice last week just before she finally slipped away last Tuesday.

“She was happy at the hospice. They were wonderful to her,” he said.

“There is still some of the craftwork she made left and I plan to give it to be sold at the St David’s summer fete,” said Gareth.

Tija also leaves a daughter Apollonia and son Dominic from her first marriage.

Her funeral was yesterday at St Paul’s Church in Colwyn Bay followed by burial at Eglwysbach Cemetery.

Donations in Tija’s memory can be made to St David’s Hospice c/o T Conchar and Sons, 4 Woodland Road West, Colwyn Bay.