Weeks after he was placed on a ventilator at Orange Park Medical Center, COVID-19 survivor Henry Bell and his fiance were married at the hospital. Florida Times-Union
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When Henry Bell arrived at Orange Park Medical Center on Sept. 13, his case of COVID-19 was so serious he was immediately put on a ventilator.
Bell, 63, spent weeks in intensive care. His fiancee Antionette Brown, 48, and their respective seven grown children could only wait and hope.
Eight weeks later, Bell is to go home Friday. But he and Brown, together 14 years and engaged for 12, decided to do something special at the hospital the day before his departure.
They got married.
“His condition was deadly,” said the bride. “We decided to do it now because we feel (the hospital staff) are like family and wanted to share the life they gave us back.”
Brown’s uncle performed the Thursday-afternoon ceremony outside the hospital’s Inpatient Rehab Center, where the groom had begun rehabilitation Sunday.
His recovery included learning how to walk again.
In addition to being placed on a ventilator, he had undergone a tracheostomy, a medical procedure that creates an opening in the neck to place a tube into a person’s windpipe, allowing air to enter the lungs.
“It was touch and go for a while,” said hospital spokeswoman Carrie Turansky. “After this journey, he and his fiancee didn’t want to wait another minute to get married, and they are so appreciative of the staff … that they wanted to have their wedding here.”
Follow Florida Times-Union reporter Beth Reese Cravey: @BethReeseCravey.
