It was supposed to be a dream trip where Robert Ormsby had planned to propose to partner Patsy Murdoch.
But when the couple’s holiday to Iceland was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 58-year-old was determined such a minor detail wouldn’t stop him popping the question.
Instead he improvised: he took his beloved, also 58, to a Kent branch of Iceland supermarket and got down on one knee in an empty aisle there.
She said yes – how could she not? – but admitted she was “laughing hysterically” as she realised what was happening.
A photo of the proposal has now gone viral with the pair saying they are doubly delighted to have been able to spread some wider joy during a tough time.
“It’s nice to know you can cheer somebody up by doing something that was just a humorous thing to make up for what we were going to miss,” said Mr Ormsby, a nurse at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.
The couple, from Sevenoaks, were on their way to dinner when he whipped her into the shop, in Tonbridge, under the pretence of picking something up.
Ms Murdoch said she had been suspicious when he decided to wear his suit for the occasion but never suspected what was about to happen.
“I was thinking ‘what do you want in Iceland?’” she said. “I didn’t twig for a minute and then suddenly he went down on one knee.”
The hospice worker added: “It was very exciting.”
The couple posed for a photograph near the checkout as they left and gave permission for the company to post the images on social media.
And now, they say, the online response had “gone berserk”.
Ms Murdoch said: “We all need a bit of distraction at the moment.”
They said they would like to use the attention to praise the hard work of NHS colleagues currently preparing for the worst of the pandemic.
