Rikki Tako: Dad, 32, dies just a week after marrying the love of his life in perfect beach wedding
A young father has tragically died from a brain tumor just days after his picture-perfect beach wedding.
Rikki Tako, 32, died on March 26, a week after marrying Nykala Garrett near New Plymouth, New Zealand.
Ms Garrett had recently left her job as a nurse at Taranaki Base Hospital to care for Mr Tako in December last year.
He suffered from seizures, memory loss and headaches while recovering from a head injury suffered in a work accident.
However, tests revealed he had an aggressive and incurable cancer known as brainstem glioblastoma, which can cause headaches, loss of balance, weakness on one side of the face and difficulty walking.
The tumor already existed, but it was believed that the industrial accident led to its rapid growth. If that hadn’t happened, the tumor probably wouldn’t have been a problem for the next twenty years.
Rikki Tako, 32, died on March 26, a week after her wedding to Nykala Garrett near New Plymouth, New Zealand (couple pictured together)
It is understood that people working in the wedding industry offered their services so that the couple could get married for free after Mr Tako’s diagnosis became public.
It came after the blended family of five went public with their financial problems as they were both unable to work and were still forced to cough up $700 in rent every week.
More than $40,000 was donated to the family through a Givealittle page, which was set up to “help ease the financial burden on this young family.”
Ms Garrett previously said she was left ‘speechless’, especially when she was told her partner had just weeks to live.
‘I just didn’t expect it to blow up so well. The generosity was insane,” she said Stuff.
“Given how hard the economy has been hit right now, it’s amazing how generous people still are.”
Mr Tako (pictured second left) suffered from seizures, memory loss and headaches while recovering from a head injury sustained in an industrial accident
Ms Garrett had recently left her job as a nurse at Taranaki Base Hospital to care for Mr Tako (pictured together) in December last year
Now that money will go to Mr. Tako’s funeral, something the widow feared she would have to take out a loan for.
“I would have paid it off for the rest of my life,” she previously said.
Meanwhile, Ms Garrett was called to a meeting with the Department of Social Development in March, where she was told her benefits would be adjusted to reflect she was in a relationship.
They were also warned that the donated money could be considered an asset once it was paid to them, meaning some parts of their benefits would have been cut.