71-year-old grandmother marries 17-year old man 3 weeks after meeting him at her son's funeral

US: A 17-year-old man Gary Hardwick has married a 71-year-old woman Almeda Errell, with 54 years in between them just three weeks after the couple met at her son's funeral.

After three weeks of dating and romance, Almeda and Gary Hardwick who now 18, and had also previously dated a 77-year-old woman tied the knot in a ceremony which he arranged for just £137 in six days.

Later, on their wedding night, they had sex for the first time.

"It was wonderful, beyond my wildest dreams," revealed Gary. "She really is my dream woman and the physical side of our relationship couldn't be better."

Almeda a super market assistant agreed saying;

"It was the best ever," "I'd never had a connection like it before."

"I wasn't looking for a young man, but Gary just came along,"

"I just knew straight away that he was the one."

Since their wedding in October 2015, Gary who had their names tattooed across his chest is now living in Almeda's five-bedroom house, in Sevierville, Tennessee, USA with her daughter DeAnna, 40, and grandchildren Aaron, 21, and Indianna, 16.

"Almeda is so young at heart that age never bothers us, we never really think about it. I just know that God answered my prayers that day she walked into my life." Gary said.

'The one thing I've learnt is that when you truly love somebody, it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks." She said.

'I'd been married to my first husband Donald for 43 years, and so when he died in 2013 after seven months in hospital from complications with diabetes, I found myself on my own,' said Almeda.

'I'd turn up for work at Walmart in tears and my colleagues would ask me what was wrong. Deep down, I was searching for a soulmate added Almeda.

Gary, whose started having attraction for older women at eight started with a crush on a teacher but said he had also been in turmoil, feeling trapped in an unhappy relationship with his 77-year-old lover.