Couple weds at hospital after groom is admitted
OAKLAND, Calif. - Not every day do you see a wedding in a hospital, but that's exactly what happened at the Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland.
Francisco Jeronimo Lucas and Marcelina Pablo Bautista planned to marry Thursday in a courthouse ceremony, but the couple were forced to change their plans when Lucas was admitted into the hospital on their planned wedding day.
The couple first got together over 20 years ago and decided to marry several years back, but it wasn't until Lucas was diagnosed with gastric cancer did "their desire to wed took on a new urgency."
Not wanting to delay their wedding anymore, they decided to have it brought to them instead and Palliative Care Social Worker Anne James got to work to make just exactly that happen.
An officiant performed the ceremony in their hospital room.
Alameda Health System staffers provided balloons, a wedding cake, and flowers for the bride to celebrate the event.
Family members also were present to witness the unique wedding.
"I’m very grateful to everyone here helping us get married. I thank God that He brought us all together," Lucas said in Mam, translated by his daughter Yohana Jeromino Pablo.
"I’m just so happy. In palliative care, we do so many sad things and have a lot of hard conversations. So being able to participate in a wedding brings me so much joy," James said.
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