A wedding with a difference

Sometimes the role of a chaplain is extremely varied. I got quite involved with a young couple. The man was being treated for cancer. Due to his lowered immunity he had developed pneumonia and was in ICU on a ventilator. He gradually improved and after about three weeks came off the ventilator. When he could communicate he asked me if I could help him get married. There are very strict rules about marriage in these circumstances as I was to find out. In order for a special licence to be granted a doctor has to say there is no chance of recovery. The patient’s consultant was not prepared to say this, as she was hopeful of a positive prognosis. So the next step was to get the registrar to come to the hospital. Again the consultant wasn’t prepared to sign the form. Not to be deterred we then looked at the possibility of getting the couple to the Register Office.

The original idea was that I would take the patient round in a wheelchair to the Register Office to do the necessary paperwork. This all took ages to sort out and in the meantime the patient was discharged. I was contacted by the couple who told me there was till no way of getting to the office as the patient was still too weak and needed to be carried down a couple of flights of stairs. They had no friends who were able to help out in this way.

I used to work for St John Ambulance so I contacted a mate of mine to see if she could get me an ambulance and crew. Fortunately she was able to help out and they went for the appointment and a date was set.

On the morning of the wedding I was contacted by the couple again, to say they had forgotten to arrange any transport and he was still too weak to walk down the stairs. Trying to get an ambulance and a crew at an hours notice is nearly an impossible task on a busy week day. Fortunately I work with some nice people and I was able to get the patient transport team who usually brought the man to his hospital appointments to help out. I rushed off to the florist and got some ribbon and a big bow for the front of the ambulance.

It was a joy to see them married and I nearly cried when the man made the huge effort of standing to kiss his wife after the ceremony. It’s great that I have happy times in my work and that it’s not all doom and gloom.