Lockdown bride Samantha was ‘courageous and determined’

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 2nd September 2020

The funeral of Samantha Gamble a A terminally ill woman from Loughbrickland, has taken place.

Samantha Gamble and Frankie Byrne from Loughbrickland, who have been together for 12 years, had planned on getting married in Banbridge.

But the Coronavirus pandemic disrupted their plans.

However the couple were given special Executive permission to marry - and did so in May in a garden ceremony live streamed to close family members.

Picture Matt Mackey / Press Eye. — Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 2nd September 2020 The funeral of Samantha Gamble a A terminally ill woman from Loughbrickland, has taken place. Samantha Gamble and Frankie Byrne from Loughbrickland, who have been together for 12 years, had planned on getting married in Banbridge. But the Coronavirus pandemic disrupted their plans. However the couple were given special Executive permission to marry - and did so in May in a garden ceremony live streamed to close family members. Picture Matt Mackey / Press Eye.

Samantha Gamble and Frankie Byrne from Loughbrickland, who had been together for 12 years, had planned on getting married at the end of May, until the pandemic disrupted their plans.

However, the couple were given special permission to wed by First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who pushed through a change in the regulations to allow terminally ill people to marry despite lockdown restrictions in place at the time.

The couple tied the knot in May in a garden ceremony live streamed to close family members.

Samantha Gamble and Frankie Byrne married on May 22 after special permission from Stormont ministers. Photo Pacemaker Press

Sadly, however, Samantha died on Sunday in the Southern Area Hospice, having had three months of married life with Frank.

Yesterday her funeral was held at her Woodside Park home yesterday.

Rev Roderic West told mourners that she had been in hospital and then the hospice, but had planned to come home this week.

“It probably won’t come as a surprise to those who knew her, that she had given Frank and the family a few instructions about getting things organised for her coming home,” Rev West said.

“Samantha was someone who liked to be organised and well-prepared. That was true in so many ways, including the way she chose suitable presents for friends and family.”

Family was very important to her and she supported and encouraged relatives in many ways, he said.

“She liked harmony and often acted as the family peacemaker when that was needed. And by the way, she was a ‘Nanny’ and not a ‘Granny’ – she wasn’t old enough to be a granny.”

He added: “Those who knew her held her in high regard, though some may have wondered why she was a Manchester United supporter.”

He also paid tribute to how she faced her trials.

“Samantha was courageous, strong-willed and determined as was evident in the way she dealt with her illness,” he said.

Samantha was born in Surrey but moved to Banbridge in the 1970s. She had one sister and three brothers – Rachel, Nicholas, William, and the late Simon and had two children, Stephen and Jessica.

She worked at Newbridge Integrated College for fourteen years, until a short time after her illness was diagnosed, he said.