J was traveling through Louisville to Florida when he stopped overnight in a local hotel. During the night, he did not feel well and was transported to Baptist Health Louisville where it was determined that he had suffered a stroke. He was transferred to 5 Park from the ER and was joined by his wife, his son, and his son's fiancé, who had traveled from Michigan to be by his side. Throughout the week, J continued to decline and was transferred to ICU. After a couple of days in ICU, it became apparent that J would not make a meaningful recovery and the family opted to have him transferred to 4 Park for comfort care.
Two weeks later, Shawna was caring for J. During a conversation with J's son's fiancé, she mentioned that J had always wanted her and his son to get married. The wedding date had been set and she was really sad that J would not make it to the wedding. Shawna went into action. She called her husband, who is a pastor, to see if he was available to perform a wedding ceremony. After finding out he was not, she made other phone calls, eventually getting in touch with our chaplain who was happy to come in and officiate the wedding.
Luckily the two happened to have their marriage license with them. Our unit secretary pulled together a beautiful bouquet for the bride and our cafeteria donated a beautiful cake and punch. So, that afternoon, they were married while holding hands over J with his wife and the unit staff as witnesses. It was a beautiful ceremony with many tears, mostly the staff, which would not have been possible without Shawna and her desire to give J and his family this final memory.