Till death do us part: Couple wed in the hospital after ghastly motor accident

Yesterday, a Kenyan couple redefined the marriage vows ’till death do us part’ when they said ‘I do’ in a hospital where they were admitted following a nearly fatal motor accident.

James Mwangi and Miriam Gakenia (on the hospital bed) during the ceremony

James Mwangi and Miriam Gakenia were injured in an accident on Nyeri-Nairobi highway on Tuesday night after they had gone to buy wedding items. The bride-to-be sustained a right hip joint injury and a broken right arm while her groom made it out with only his right hand injured.

Although James was treated and  discharged, his fiancee Miriam was left bedridden from her grievous injuries. She tried to convince James to postpone the wedding but he insisted the ceremony must hold . That was when they decided to get married at the Outspan hospital on Saturday.

“The wedding had to go on. We had prepared for six months. The devil was not going to get in the way. She would have become my wife even if she had lost her legs,” Mwangi explained.

The bride had nurses as her bridesmaids and was escorted in her bed to her groom by the matron of the hospital. The lovebirds had difficulties wearing each other’s wedding bands as their hands were in casts but they exchanged their vows. They also found it hard to sign their marriage certificate and share their wedding cake, but these paled in comparison to the exchange of vows at the emotional ceremony.

According to the reverend who conducted the wedding, it was the first of its kind in Kenya. “I have never conducted such a wedding. It shows [how] far love can go. It is a lesson in sticking with your vision regardless of hurdles, and eventually reaching your destination,” he said.

The bride will remain at the hospital for six weeks while she recuperates.

Source: The Star