This couple got married in the Tufts Medical Center ICU
Sandra Waite’s mind was set — she would get married May 7.
When the 76-year-old was hospitalized at Tufts Medical Center for heart problems the week before her wedding, she didn’t let it stop the nuptials that she and her fiance George Scott, 78, had planned for months.
Waite married her sweetheart of five years surrounded by family despite being confined to her hospital bed.
A nurse brought in flowers and decorated the room with purple streamers. A spokeswoman for Tufts told Boston.com it may have been the first wedding to take place inside a hospital room at the medical center.
“It all worked out,” Waite said. “I was determined to get married on that date.”
She met Scott on Match.com — they’d both lost their spouses and were hoping to meet someone for companionship. At the time, she was in North Attleborough and Scott was living near the New Hampshire border.
“He found me and gave me what they call a wink to get my attention,” Waite said. “And he said he wanted to go out with me. And I said, ‘Well, the mileage was too far. It’s 75 miles.’ And he said, ‘I still want to go out with you.’”
She told him she couldn’t meet him that weekend — she had promised to meet another online suitor. Persistent, Scott asked that she let him know if things didn’t work out.
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, right,’” Waite said.
But a few weeks later Scott contacted her again, saying he wanted to meet her.
“So we made a date and that was it,” Waite said.
Dr. Jeffrey Kuvin, associate chief of cardiology at Tufts and Waite’s cardiologist, attended the couple’s wedding ceremony. He said it was touching to witness Waite enjoying the moment with her family even though she was surrounded by medical equipment in the intensive care unit.
He said when he first met Waite, she told him right away that she planned to keep her wedding date.
“I said, ‘That’s great. We’ll do everything we can to make that happen,’” Kuvin told Boston.com. “It turns out that her case became more complicated and she required continued hospitalization. But that didn’t deter [her]. She asked if she could have ceremony while in the intensive care unit. And we saw no reason to delay this or to not grant her wish.”
Two days later, Waite received a trans-catheter heart-valve. Now, she said she’s feeling a lot better.
“I really think [the ceremony] motivated her to continue to fight,” Kuvin said. “And thankfully she’s done really well. We’re very optimistic that she’s going to leave the hospital in much better condition than she came in and have a hopefully long and happy marriage.”
The newlyweds plan to have a reception once Waite is out of the hospital. Her husband will move into her North Attleborough home.
“It was a great day,” Waite said. “I got my rose-colored gold ring.”
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