A man suffering from Huntington’s disease, who married the love of his life just a couple of months ago, has died, leaving behind his wife, who is battling the same terminal illness.
Sara Smouther, 38, and Matt Weeks, 50 — who both suffered from the same genetic terminal neurological illness — married on May 21. Weeks sadly passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 3.
“He gives me purpose,” Smouther told People after their wedding. “It’s a comfort to know that I have someone.”
The couple met in April 2021 at the Summerfield Health Care Center in Cloverdale, Indiana — the only residential care facility in the United States that exclusively treats Huntington’s patients — and, according to staff and family, they were “inseparable” from the moment they met.
Both suffered from Huntington’s disease, a rare, genetically inherited disease that causes the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain leading to loss of mobility, cognitive function, thinking and psychiatric disorders.
The couple had to take a series of steps through the facility to officially be in a relationship — due to the neurological effect the disease has on impulse control and awareness. But once they had permission, they began dating.
Weeks, who had lived in the facility since 2020, proposed on Oct. 29, 2021, and the pair married six months later.
According to Smouther’s sister Lindsay Williams, her relationship with Weeks gave her a “renewed sense of joy” to fall in love and have somebody who understands what she’s been through.
Smouther, who previously worked as an executive publisher, was diagnosed with the disease her grandmother and her father also suffered from at 30, after beginning to show symptoms in her late 20s.
Weeks, a sound engineer, was diagnosed at 34 after also seeing family members suffer from the same condition.
He spoke to People magazine not long before his death, using a facility administrator to interpret for him as he had lost most of his ability to speak. However, only Smouther and the facility employees could understand him.
According to the Mayo Clinic, there are no treatments that can stop the symptoms of Huntington’s disease, but medications can reduce some symptoms of movement and psychiatric disorders. The time from when a person first exhibits symptoms to death is often about 10 to 30 years.
Facility administrator Tasheena Duncan told People that Weeks said he loves Smouther and he’s “not lonely anymore.”
“He knows he is going to be with her forever in heaven,” she said.
Smouther’s neurologist, Dr. Christopher James, agreed, saying they had a “special connection” and it proves love and friendship can still exist even in tragic circumstances.
“It’s given them a reason to keep living,” he said.
Weeks died on Wednesday, with his loving wife “holding his hand” as he passed.
