Groom marries fiancee's corpse during her funeral after battle with breast cancer

A man married his partner's corpse at her funeral after she lost her battle with breast cancer.

The man from China wanted to show his love for her and give his wife-to-be the dream she always wanted of being a bride.

Xu Shinan's partner of 12 years died on October 14 after fighting breast cancer for five and a half years.

The 35-year-old man stayed by the side of his wife's body for 24 hours a day for seven days following her death in a Chinese tradition to pay respects to the departed.

The special ceremony was held on Saturday morning (local time) at a funeral home in Dalian, eastern China.

According to Dalin Evening News, Shinan read his vows to his bride-to-be in front of friends and family.

"Although today's wedding is late, it has realised Yang Liu's dream," he said.

"Wife, please don't worry! For me, the rest of my life will be in pain, but I will not give up."

Yang Liu was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, she subsequently went through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and surgeries and in 2017 her condition improved.

A year later, however, her cancer returned and Liu began to deteriorate.

Shinan told the local newspaper that his partner had been suffering from multiple complications and had been bedridden since July this year.

"She couldn't even recognise me in the end and we didn't bid farewell," the devastated groom said.

The heartbreaking story has gone viral on China's Twitter-type platform, Weibo, for Shinan's devotion to his bride.

"There should be such a devoted and affectionate man in the world," one user said

"This is true love," another added.