Patient in COVID ICU remarries longtime sweetheart
By Caitlin Lilly
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LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — UPDATE (Feb. 11) — A representative for MountainView Hospital in northwest Las Vegas shared that Eddie D. passed away a few days after this wedding was held.
According to the hospital, Eddie passed away Jan. 27 at about 8:30 p.m. at a different facility for hospice care.
After his passing, his wife, Patricia, said, “He is at peace now and he isn’t suffering anymore. As a former nurse I understand not being able to breath is one of the worst things. He is with our Heavenly Father and has no more distress.”
Patricia told the hospital that in his final hours, she knew he was leaving, and she said her goodbyes. She let his sister and son sit with him at the end.
Original story continues below.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The intensive care unit at a Las Vegas hospital served as a backdrop for a wedding ceremony on Tuesday, as a patient in the COVID ICU tied the knot with his longtime sweetheart.
According to MountainView Hospital in northwest Las Vegas, Eddie D. and Patricia M. were first married in the 1970s. Although they divorced after a year, the pair never lost touch, Patricia said.
“We were young and stupid,” Patricia told the hospital, with a laugh. “We divorced in a year but maintained contact over the years.”
After divorcing, the pair said they went on with their lives, had families, births and deaths.
And then they found each other again.
According to the couple, a little over five years ago, Patricia saw online that it was Eddie’s birthday and dropped him a note – “Happy Birthday to my favorite ex-husband.”
Eddie, who lived in California at the time, stopped in Las Vegas after visiting his son on the East Coast to visit Patricia and take her out to dinner, the pair recounted to the hospital. They then moved in together in 2017 after buying a house together in Las Vegas.
“We never really thought about getting married (again),” Patricia, a retired nurse, said.
According to the hospital, Eddie, who spent 33 years in the military, received a cancer diagnosis last October, only three months after he had been told his cancer was in remission. Eddie landed back in the hospital, and ultimately the ICU, after suffering a bacterial pneumonia infection and COVID.
“Despite his aliments and being on bipap, Eddie is alert, of sound mind and aware of what is going on,” the hospital said.
Now, 74 and 75 years old, the pair realized if not now, when?
On Monday, Eddie asked Patricia to marry him, over text message since he is in the ICU and on COVID precautions.
Patricia hasn’t been able to visit Eddie due to his COVID-positive status. In order to have the wedding in-person, the hospital’s administration had to sign off and approve the in-person visit.
“We hope this day was an unforgettable experience for Eddie and Patricia,” said MountainView Hospital CEO Julie Taylor. “This is proof that love prevails, and that people are stronger together and that there are joyful moments amidst the challenges.
The ceremony was short and Patricia had to leave the room after the couple said their “I Dos.”
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