'I went to my own wake and loved it' says remarkable Milton Keynes man

Austen Cole was diagnosed in May with prostate cancer that had spread to his liver and lymph nodes. Doctors told him it was uncurable and gave him less than 12 months to live.

"I could have had chemo but it would only delay things by a couple of months and probably make me feel even worse. So decided instead not to mope around but to make the most of every day I have left,” he said.

Austen promptly stopped working as a self-employed ceramic tiler so he could spend more time with his partner Tracey Nash at their Newport Pagnell home. Then the couple set about organising a ‘leaving do’ – but it was a very unusual one…

"It was actually my own living wake. Tracey wanted to call it a celebration of my life but I called it my leaving do. It seemed right,” he said.

Friends, family and former colleagues from all over the country flocked to The Dove pub in Newport Pagnell for the event and all are still talking about what an incredible, emotional, but strangely happy party it was.

"It was amazing,” said Austen, “I loved it. There was so much laughter, love and fun. I saw people I hadn’t seen since primary school – I couldn’t beleive how many people came. The pub was packed.

"It was almost like a wedding because I spent the whole time going round talking to everyone. It was only as people left that it became more like a funeral and there were some tears.

"The leaving do started at 2.30pm and Tracey and I were the last ones standing at midnight… I can honesly say I loved being at my own wake. Why would I want to miss it?”

Austen’s remarkable attitude means his has also not wasted a minute in his daily life. Although he is in pain and on morphine, he has vowed to make his Wordsworth Avenue home perfect for Tracey, a hairdresser, to maintain when she is alone.

"Since May I’ve built an extension, put up new fencing, done the living room and now I’m decorating the hallway. I want it all to be in excellent order for Tracey so she needn’t worry about it.”

The couple, who have four older children between them, have also enjoyed days out and trips away. This weekend they are looking forward to going to Alton Towers.

"Weirdly people keep saying how well I look, even though I’m dying,” said Austen. “I’ve lost weight but I try to be outside as much as I can so I look tanned and healthy rather than pale and pasty. It all helps!

"The way I see it is that I’ve been dealt a card and I have this illness but I’m not going to let it rule what life I have left. I can still be hapy.

"Maybe that attitude is even paying off… Who knows, this time next year I might be holding a ‘Stuff You’ party to terminal cancer!”