Published 18:29 IST, January 31st 2021
UK-based couple got married in COVID-19 ward 46 years after their first meeting
A UK-based couple recently got married in a hospital’s COVID-19 ward more than 46 years after they first met on the set of a pantomime.
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A UK-based couple recently got married in a hospital’s coronavirus ward more than 46 years after they first met on the set of a pantomime. Phillip, 78, and Patricia, 88, were married on January 29 at Coventry university hospital, where the 88-year-old is being treated for COVID-19. Their wedding took place after a hospital staff member, Joanna Shakespeare, appealed on Twitter for help to find a registrar.
We are desperately seeking a registrar to perform a civil wedding ceremony on COVID ward @nhsuhcw @live_coventry can anyone urgently help?
— Joanna Shakespeare (@shakeyjs) January 28, 2021
According to a press release, the couple said “I do” with modern matron May Parsons and junior doctor Leigh Anne Brace as witnesses. The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire trust said that a worker at the Coventry register office officiated at the ceremony. The hospital further added that the couple had been planning to marry after the pandemic but after waiting a year their plans changed and they asked for help from hospital staff.
The NHS Trust said, “It may not have been the wedding they imagined, but our amazing staff were able to add some much need sparkle to make their ceremony special by adding a few traditional touches, such as ‘new’ decorations, ‘borrowed’ rings, an army of ‘blue’ bridesmaids and, most importantly, an ‘old’, timeless love”.
They added that it was “an afternoon we won’t forget. This heartwarming reminder shows that it isn’t a choir and bouquets that make a wedding special; it’s commemorating the everlasting bond that two people share”.
Netizens congratulate the ‘lovely couple’
Hundreds of people on social media also congratulated the couple after the NHS trust published photographs of the wedding. While one user wrote, “wonderful!!! congratulations to the happy couple and amazing work helping make sure this could happen,” another added, “Congratulations to the happy couple! Amazing staff for doing this”. One user wrote, “Patricia & Phillip. Wonderful story & amazing staff who made your day so special”. “This is so lovely. There are no barriers to true love,” wrote fourth.
18:29 IST, January 31st 2021