STRATFORD -- A Stratford, Ont. woman who has been diagnosed with cancer has been reunited with her British fiance after border restrictions forced them to be separated for 245 days.

Sarah Campbell and Jacob Taylor were finally able to hold each other again on Saturday.

“It’s been such a long fight,” said Campbell. “We’ve been apart for eight months and two days and now we’re not anymore.

“It feels like…pinch me.”

The two were forced to postpone their June wedding because of the pandemic.

Campbell was diagnosed with cancer the following month.

The future bride and groom then launched into months of action and advocated for those in long-term committed relations to be reunited.

“We’ve been fighting with every tool in our arsenal,” said Campbell. “The support we’ve had is incredible from across Canada. It’s been one of the craziest and most intense experiences of my life.”

The couple finally heard what they, and so many other Canadians, were waiting for on Oct. 2 when new measures by the federal government allowed people in exclusive long-term relationships, their dependant children, as well as non-dependant grandchildren, siblings, and grandparents to be reunited.

“It’s not that I wouldn’t have loved you this much if we hadn’t gone through this,” said Campbell to Taylor. “I think going through something this difficult brings you together in such a unique way.”

The reunited couple has now returned their sights to the big day.

“I am so excited,” said Taylor. “I’ve been wanting to get married for almost a year now, actually no for more than a year now.

“I knew that I wanted to marry Sarah last August at the latest. I had an inkling back in July when we had just started talking.”

The two have plans to get married as soon as Taylor’s mandatory quarantine ends in two weeks.