Even though the most popular wedding remains the traditional kind, that was not what happened recently for one couple in Iowa.
Following 47 days in a hospital bed, Jonathan Johnson finally got home, but his recovery has been slow, WOWT reported Tuesday.
“It makes you realize that life is too short,” Johnson told the outlet.
The 28-year-old Council Bluffs resident contracted the coronavirus and his experience made him realize what is most important.
“We were engaged for over a year when I finally woke up from being on the ventilator for three and a half weeks. I was feeling a little better and I was able to breathe, and I thought to myself, ‘I want to marry this one,'” he said.
“We were engaged for over a year when I finally woke up from being on the ventilator for three and a half weeks. I was feeling a little better and I was able to breathe, and I thought to myself, ‘I want to marry this one,'” Jonathan Johnson said. (Facebook)
He came up with a plan to surprise his fiancée, Mariah, with a hospital room wedding ceremony, and staff members at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital would help him pull it off.
A friend smuggled Mariah’s wedding gown into the hospital while another told her it was a hair and makeup day. The team also took care of the special cake and photography.
“When they were actually getting married, you could see the love in his eyes. He was smitten to marry her. That was a beautiful thing,” nurse Amy Waldstein said.
The surprise came off without a hitch, and Mariah did not suspect a thing.
“I was completely blown back, and after that I was an emotional ball because I was so shocked. I didn’t think that was gonna happen that soon. But I am so happy that it did that way I can spend my forever with the man that I love,” Mariah commented.
Photos showed the couple enjoying their day with loved ones gathered around them:
“It was great. I’m happy I got to marry my best friend,” Johnson stated, adding that he appreciated the staff members.
The happy couple has a son who will soon turn two, and his father said he cannot wait to one day tell him how they got married in a hospital room.