A frontline nurse turned wedding planner after she helped a Covid couple get married in hospital.

Hannah Cannon, who works as a rapid response nurse at Milton Keynes University Hospital, was caring for a patient who was suffering severe breathing difficulties that left him unable to talk.

His fiancée was also being treated for Covid at the same time, but on a different ward. The pair had not been able to talk to each other since they were admitted.

They were originally due to marry last summer but the pandemic scuppered their wedding plans – so Ms Cannon decided to help the couple, who have not been named for privacy reasons, saying she had a “lightbulb moment about how to raise their spirits”.

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Ms Cannon said: “Their story seemed so sad, so I thought about what the team and I could do help cheer them.

“I asked the bride-to-have-been if she liked the idea of getting wed from her hospital bed.

“It was as organic as that – the idea just flew out of my mouth, without me thinking far ahead.

“When she said ‘I do’, I set about arranging a marriage blessing at a moment’s notice, in a busy hospital, during a pandemic and with all of the health and safety measures to bear in mind.”

She organised safe space in the intensive care unit, where the female patient’s fiancé had been moved to while the plans were getting off the ground, as well as a chaplain who could conduct the blessing.

The hospital’s chaplain was not able to conduct the blessing, but contacted a colleague who could.

READ MORE: High Wycombe couple tie the knot during pandemic

The hospital’s chaplain was not able to conduct the blessing, but contacted a colleague who could.

Ms Cannon, who is also a senior lecturer at the University of Northampton, said: “It was a lot of work in such a short space of time, but good plans made for a good cause have a way of working out.

“The patients’ families found all of the documentation needed to make sure everything could go ahead.

“The whole event took 15 minutes and, even though both were very ill, you could see how glad they were almost immediately.

“I was so thrilled for them and, I have to admit, the sight of two priests in full PPE, conducting a wedding blessing on an intensive care ward is not something I’ll forget seeing in a hurry.”

The couple are now, thankfully, recovering.