A bride who thought her dad would not be allowed to attend her wedding amid the coronavirus lockdown while he fights cancer has had a special surprise.
Lindsey Sweeney's father was given special permission to defy the lockdown so he could walk his daughter 'down the aisle'.
He was in St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffield, South Yorkshire when the entire country was placed under lockdown.
But hospice chaplain Mike Reeder stepped in to ensure the ceremony went ahead, with Derek by Lindsey's side when she married fiance Jon Bagshaw at Sheffield Register Office in South Yorkshire last month.
Lindsey, a nurse at Barnsley Hospital, said: “Jon and I have been talking about getting married for more than ten years but just never got round to it,"reports Examiner Live.
“But with dad’s cancer getting more serious, we realised now much we wanted him to be here to celebrate with us.
“We spoke to Mike the St Luke’s chaplain on the Friday and by the Monday everything was booked.”
It meant the wedding was back on course and it took place with the bride and groom, their son David, Lindsey’s mum Trish and Jon’s mum Margaret, with Derek there in his wheelchair to give his daughter away.
Lindsey said: “Mike had spoken to the Ambulance Wish Foundation to help make it all happen and my dad’s consultant said dad would be able to attend because it was an exceptional circumstance.
“Everyone wants their dad to be with them at their wedding and thanks to all the people at St Luke’s who helped - including everyone from the nursing team to the receptionists - the registrar and the ambulance drivers, it really did happen.
“I think dad was a bit blown away to be honest at how quickly it had happened but I know he was very proud to be with me.”
The coronavirus crisis meant the wedding reception had to be a modest affair, back home to Stannington for pizza and cupcakes in lieu of a cake before Derek returned to the hospice.
Lindsey said: “In some ways it was a bit surreal, a couple of hours to get married and then back to the hospice but it was what we wanted.
“Mike is amazing and so are all the people at St Luke’s who made this day so very special for us."
