Royal Free organises a ‘wedding’ for patient undergoing high risk surgery

The Royal Free hastily put together a mock wedding for a patient and her boyfriend, when she had to undergo emergency surgery.

Dawne Le Good was in hospital after a heart attack when she got an infection. Doctors told her she needed urgent surgery.

Because the 51-year-old was still recovering from her heart attack, doctors said the surgery was risky. So Dawne and her partner Bill Pope decided they should marry.

Sadly there wasn't a registrar available to provide a marriage licence, so the trust's chaplain Revd Claire Carson gave the couple a blessing before the operation.

Nurses bought them a bouquet, some alcohol-free bubbly and found Bill a corsage. Since the ceremony late last month she is on the mend.

She said: "I was very scared. They explained that they didn't know whether I would survive the operation. I was thinking of my daughter Emily who was on a school trip to Berlin. I felt how far away she was and I was devastated that I might not see her again."

Dawne and Bill are now planning a real wedding, so they can celebrate with friends and family.