A devoted couple are celebrating their wedding, after saying “I do” in the intensive care ward of their local hospital.
Hayley Ann Thomas married sweetheart David Clarke surrounded by friends, family and doctors and nurses after falling ill months before her big day.
Hayley, 26 who was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2005, has spent the last six months in hospital after suffering complications last August. The illness is the same one that TOWIE star Sam Faiers has just been diagnosed with.
It meant the couple had to scrap their planned wedding at a posh hotel in May.
But caring staff came to the rescue by arranging for them to get hitched on the ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, North Wales.
Husband David, from Bethel, near Caernarfon, told the Daily Post: “The wedding obviously couldn’t go ahead as planned in the hotel but it was the nurses’ suggestion that perhaps we could have a blessing in the hospital instead.
“It sort of snowballed from there.”
He added: “The nursing staff have been amazing and pulled out all the stops to make sure the wedding took place even though it had to be in the intensive care unit.”
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Hayley’s mum, Eirian, added: “It was a lovely day. We had about 20 people in the room, family, friends and medical staff and the registrar did everything she would normally do. Nothing was different apart from the location.
“The nurses had gone to great lengths to decorate the room and make it look really nice.”
Guests were even treated to a slap-up buffet in a room close to the unit after the ceremony.
The couple’s two young daughters, four-year-old Ellie and Amelia Haf, two, were flower girls.
David said: “We don’t know how long Hayley will be in hospital but it could be many more months. Once Hayley is back home and fully recovered we’ll have a blessing at the hotel and a big party to thank everyone for being so kind to us.”
Eirian said she was “incredibly proud of her daughter”.
“She is small in stature, always has been and I don’t know where she gets the strength from but she is a real battler,” she said.
Hayley is a bar supervisor at Cofi Roc in Caernarfon and her boss, Gilly Harradence, was at the wedding.
She said: “There’s never a dull moment with Hayley and only she could decide to get married in hospital.
“One of the nurses told me that she’s one of the best patients they’ve ever had in the intensive care unit and that she was inspirational.
“She’s gone through so much but is fighting so hard I can only agree with the nurses words.
“We all miss her here and look forward to welcoming her back.”
