Bride moves wedding to hospital so sick mom can attend

photo Sarah Luck and her mother Kristi Duffy

Kristi Duffy, a patient at Memorial Hospital, had accepted the fact she wouldn't be able to attend her youngest daughter's wedding.

Duffy has major health concerns, including heart and lung problems, and she's spent more than 100 days in the hospital this year. She knows she's reaching the end of her life, and said leaving the hospital for a wedding wasn't feasible.

But a few weeks ago, she was able to see her daughter get married thanks to a slight change in venue: moving the ceremony to the hospital itself.

On Aug. 23, much of the hospital staff came together to help Sarah and Brian Luck get married in St. Anne's Chapel at the hospital. They decorated the chapel in Luck's wedding colors -- pink and green -- and about 40 guests came for the ceremony.

Duffy said what amazed her most was how the staff came together to make the day feel special. The nurses on her floor surprised her with a pink pashmina, so that Duffy wouldn't have to wear a blanket over her dress in her wheelchair. They helped her daughter get into her gown in one of the bathrooms, even spreading a sheet on the floor so the hem wouldn't get dirty.

After the wedding, they surprised Duffy and her daughter with refreshments upstairs in one of the break rooms, where Duffy could eat a piece of cake with the couple and the bridal party before they left for the official reception.

She said her doctor even put in her charts for the day that she could have half a glass of champagne.

"I'm telling you, it was the best champagne I've ever had," she said.

Duffy said all different parts of the hospital chipped in, from marketing to the gift shop to the nurses and doctors themselves. They had enough champagne donated that the nurses could have some when they got off duty.

Duffy's physician, Dr. F. Lee Hamilton, said it was a moment you don't often get to see at a hospital. He was one of a handful of medical personnel who attended the ceremony.

"(Sarah) kissed her new husband and then turned and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek," he said. "I don't think there was one dry eye in that place."

He said the wedding showed that although hospitals can be sad places, it's important to look for those moments of happiness.

"Not everybody gets better," he said. "Not everybody goes home with a happy story. But every now and then, you get to see a wonderful ray of sunshine come through."

Contact staff writer Hannah Smith at hsmith@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.

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