An elderly couple tied the knot in an Alabama emergency room in a romantic spur-of-the-moment ceremony made possible by the hospital’s big-hearted staffers.
John Como and his then-fiance Diane were on their way to get their marriage certificate notarized on Sept. 5 when John, 79, received a chilling call from his doctor.
The physician said John’s bloodwork came back abnormally and urged him to go to Huntsville Hospital, the hospital explained.
The disheartened lovebirds headed to the ER, where nurse practitioner Beth Gates learned that John’s health scare derailed their highly anticipated wedding plans.
Gates decided she couldn’t sit idly by and watch the disappointment, so she went scouring the hospital for a licensed notary.
“They were such a sweet couple, it was the least I could do,” Gates said.
She ultimately summoned Shoyna Alexander, a notary who works in the hospital’s security office, to help salvage John and Diane’s special day.
Alexander dropped everything to join the couple and staff in the wedding venue – ER exam room C-29.
John, wearing a hospital gown, and Diane, sporting a white pantsuit with a black-and-white checkered blouse, signed their marriage certificate, said their “I dos” and exchanged adorable yellow paper rings made by an onlooking ER patient, Samantha Ring.
The groom then leaned forward on his hospital bed to kiss his bride, “bringing some smiles back to what had been a scary and unusual day,” the hospital said.
But the unconventional ceremony was just the start of the celebration – with hospital staffers making sure the IVs and medical machinery didn’t get in the way of a good time.
Licensed nurse Keria Lightfoot bought flowers, cupcakes, plastic champagne flutes and sparkling grape juice for the last-minute party — and ER attendant Nolan Bearden made a “Just Married” sign.
“It just warmed our hearts that they would care enough to do that,” John said.
“We were in this terrible situation of having to go to the emergency department, but they made it a golden moment. People need to know that the staff at Huntsville Hospital has a heart.”
John, a retired Army colonel, ended up being admitted to the oncology unit, but was released on Sept. 23.
He was thrilled to embark on married life with Diane, a lifelong acquaintance he started dating after his wife of over 40 years died about a year ago.
