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Sick couple rushed to marry on UK COVID-19 ward; now they have second chance

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Paul Sandle and Natalie Thomas, Reuters 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/01/22/wedding.jpg"/><figcaption>Simon O&#x27;Brien, 36, looks on as his wife, Elizabeth Kerr, 31, reacts as she speaks, in a COVID-19 ward, days after they married in Intensive Care Unit in Milton Keynes University Hospital, Milton Keynes, Britain, Jan. 20, 2021. <em>Toby Melville, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MILTON KEYNES, England - British couple Elizabeth Kerr and Simon O&#x27;Brien had been planning to marry in June. Then COVID-19 struck.</p><p>Both contracted the disease and were rushed to Milton Keynes University Hospital in the same ambulance when their oxygen levels fell dangerously low.</p><p>Kerr and O&#x27;Brien became so ill that medical staff scrambled to organise a wedding before it was too late. When O&#x27;Brien&#x27;s condition got even worse, it was decided he should be transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU).</p><p>Even that did not stop them: staff delayed his intubation just long enough for them to tie the knot.</p><p>&quot;They told me that we wouldn&#x27;t be able to get married after all, because they were going to have to intubate Simon and put him under,&quot; Kerr recalled.</p><p>&quot;But they held off for another hour. And he just, just rallied in that time, just long enough for us to get married.&quot;</p><p>With mortality rates now as high as 80% in the ICU, a happy ending was far from certain.</p><p>But O&#x27;Brien&#x27;s condition improved and the newlyweds reunited on a COVID-19 ward where both are gradually recovering, although still receiving oxygen.</p><p>&quot;We had to wait a few days for our first kiss,&quot; Kerr told Reuters.</p><div><strong> &#x27;I DO&#x27;</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/01/22/health-coronavirus-britain-wedding.jpg"/><figcaption>Elizabeth Kerr, 31, and Simon O&#x27;Brien, 36, display a photo taken with their phone of their wedding, in a COVID-19 ward, days after they married in an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) when both had become critically ill with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and were uncertain of their chances of surviving, in Milton Keynes University Hospital, Milton Keynes, Britain, January 20, 2021. Toby Melville, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div><p><br/>When Kerr, 31, and O&#x27;Brien, 36, arrived at the hospital in southern England, both needed a CPAP machine to breathe. They were placed on separate wards for COVID-19 patients.</p><p>Kerr, a nurse at nearby Buckingham hospital, had told medics they planned to wed in June, but with their condition deteriorating, nurse Hannah Cannon asked her if they wanted to marry in the hospital.</p><p>Kerr recalled she was told it could be her only chance.</p><p>Squeezing her husband&#x27;s arm and welling up with tears as she recalled the events, she said: &quot;Those are words I never ever want to hear again.&quot;</p><p>As staff across the hospital rushed to secure a wedding license, O&#x27;Brien&#x27;s health worsened and doctors decided to move him to the ICU, reserved for the sickest patients, where he could receive mechanical ventilation.</p><p>They waited to intubate him long enough for the ceremony, which took place at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, 3 days after the couple arrived in hospital.</p><p>Cannon was a witness and filmed the marriage for the couple&#x27;s family and friends. The catering department provided the cake.</p><p>&quot;With lots of teamwork... we were able to give them a wedding, not necessarily the wedding that they would have initially intended, but certainly something positive, remarkable and memorable for them to really hold on to,&quot; Cannon said.</p><p>Moments after saying &quot;I do,&quot; O&#x27;Brien was sedated and spent the night on mechanical ventilation.</p><p>Sitting next to each other and clutching hands after his partial recovery, the couple believe their survival was down to the staff&#x27;s quick thinking.</p><p>Kerr said the terrifying experience of fighting for every breath made clear what was important: the people you love.</p><p>&quot;That is everything that matters, everything&quot; she said. &quot;Absolutely,&quot; O&#x27;Brien agreed, speaking through his oxygen mask.</p><p>Kerr added: &quot;If we hadn&#x27;t had each other and we hadn&#x27;t been given that opportunity to get married, I don&#x27;t think both of us would be here now.&quot; </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/04/14/20/intimate-celebration-no-buffet-how-covid-19-could-transform-ph-wedding-industry">Intimate celebration, no buffet: How COVID-19 could transform PH wedding industry</a></li></ul><div><strong> RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5QBkLus_PLA?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div> <br/> </div>

<p>Sitting next to each other and clutching hands after his partial recovery, the couple believe their survival was down to the staff's quick thinking.<br /> </p>

Sitting next to each other and clutching hands after his partial recovery, the couple believe their survival was down to the staff's quick thinking.

Sick couple rushed to marry on UK COVID-19 ward; now they have second chance

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Sick couple rushed to marry on UK COVID-19 ward; now they have second chance

Paul Sandle and Natalie Thomas,

Reuters

Published Jan 22, 2021 04:48 PM PHT

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