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‘Not a dry eye’: Vancouver hospital staff help patient wed his bride, days before his death

Click to play video: 'This is BC: Hospital staff help couple get married in ICU'
This is BC: Hospital staff help couple get married in ICU
Jay Durant with This is BC tells the story of Vancouver General Hospital ICU staff getting together to help two young people get married. Joshua Morven married his longtime love Sarah Bright in the ICU before he sadly died just six days later – Sep 30, 2024

Joshua Morven and Sarah Bright knew they wanted to get married.

They knew that even though Morven was sick in the intensive care unit at Vancouver General Hospital after undergoing a second double-lung transplant.

That’s when ICU staff stepped in to help make their day a memorable one and transform the ward into a wedding chapel.

“He just exudes happiness at that moment,” mom Carol Roberts told Global News.

“And as soon as he had seen his bride, he cried. And we all cried. There was not a dry eye in that room.”

Morven, 30, battled through an autoimmune disease and later two double-lung transplants, which his body eventually rejected.

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On Aug. 24, he was all smiles as he and his bride exchanged their vows.

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“There’s just something special about Josh, you know, he was never a ‘woe is me’ kind of guy,” Roberts said.

“He always had this smile regardless of what he was going through.”

Click to play video: 'Hospital throws wedding for heart-transplant patient'
Hospital throws wedding for heart-transplant patient

She added that the hospital staff took time out of their day to help prepare for the wedding.

“And they knew this was my son’s last moments on earth and they wanted to make him feel special,” she said.

Morven died six days later, on Aug. 30.

Roberts said she finds comfort in remembering the love and joy he shared with everyone on his wedding day.

“We felt the care. We felt the love from everyone. It was beautiful. He was the happiest he’s been in his life,” she said.

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Roberts added her son’s story is an important one to remember about organ donation.

She said that thanks to the donations from others, she had two more years with her son and the chance to see him marry the love of his life.

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