Gareth Brisbane, the husband of Married at First Sight star Mel Schilling, has paid a heartfelt tribute to the beloved dating coach on what would have been their wedding anniversary, following her death earlier this year. Schilling died in March at age 54 after doctors discovered her cancer had spread to her brain.
Husband Shares Emotional Wedding Day Photo
In a post on Instagram, Brisbane shared a photo of the couple kissing and holding their daughter Maddie on their wedding day in Bali in 2020. He wrote: 'Ah my one. Hard to reconcile that the anniversary of the happiest day of my life could become one of the saddest. We didn't quite make eight years married or 15 years together but what a love and what a life we had!'
Brisbane recalled their first date and how he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. 'My love for you burned ever brighter, even as your own light faded,' he wrote. 'Sleep easy my girl, I hope you know that Maddie and I are in the best possible place to continue healing. She is every inch your daughter and you would be so proud of the remarkable young woman she is becoming.'
Final Words 'Will Sustain Him for the Rest of His Life'
A statement shared by Brisbane revealed that in her final moments, Schilling whispered a message for him and their daughter which 'will sustain him for the rest of his life'. He concluded his tribute with: 'Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.'
Couple's Love Story
The couple met on a dating website eight years before their wedding. Schilling previously told Who Magazine: 'I was a late bloomer in life. I didn't meet my husband until I was nearly 40 and then we had our daughter when I was nearly 42, so to be finally saying our “I dos” was an emotional time. It was very special.'
In a March post sharing her terminal diagnosis, Schilling said of her husband and daughter: 'These two beside me are my everything.'
