Patient pops the question from hospital bed.
Staff at Walkergate Park were delighted when one of their patients decided to propose on the ward, a first for the hospital.
Michael Quigley from Houghton-le-Spring was admitted to Walkergate Park in July after suffering from a stroke.
He had a bleed on the brain, leaving him in a coma and needing to learn to eat and drink again.
Michael was transferred from the Royal Victoria Infirmary to Sunderland Royal Hospital before being moved to Walkergate Park.
Going through such a life-changing event inspired Michael to propose to Emma Hughes, his partner of seven years.
Michael said: “Emma has been asking for years when are we getting married? Something like a stroke gives you clarity. Emma’s been amazing through everything and I thought now is as good a time as any. I would have liked to have got down on one knee but I don’t know when in the future I’ll be able to do that.”
Nursing assistant Tracy Burns helped with the surprise.
She said: “Michael was quite poorly when he first came to Walkergate Park. He was really missing his family and struggled to engage in his therapies.
“As he started to get better, he mentioned that he wanted to propose. I thought he meant when he was discharged, but he said he wanted to do it in the hospital. He coordinated it all from his hospital bed. It’s a lot to organise especially between therapies and fatigue.”
Michael proposed to Emma in his hospital room with children Alfie and Lola there.
As part of the ruse, he’d told Emma she needed to wear something nice because a photographer was coming to the hospital to take memory photos.
Little did she know, there was a ring on the bedside table hidden underneath a file.
“I was trying to keep her distracted so we were playing Guess Who with the kids,” Michael said.
Emma says she cried for a whole minute before saying yes.
The ward staff were just as nervous as Michael.
“We wanted his plans to go smoothly,” Tracy said. “We gave him a bath and got him all smart; you could tell he wanted everything to be perfect. We were all sat in the office waiting to see if Emma was going to say yes.”
That wasn’t the end of the surprises. Michael had booked the hospital’s conference room where their family were waiting to congratulate them. The room had been decorated with banners and Michael’s niece had baked a cake.
Emma said: “We’d been talking about getting married so I knew Michael was going to propose at some point. Having family there was a huge surprise, everyone is so happy and excited for us.”
Emma has started looking at venues and going to wedding fairs with daughter Lola, who’s looking forward to being a flower girl.
The proposal gave Michael a goal to work towards whilst in hospital. He said: “I didn’t know what had happened and don’t remember being in the RVI at all.
“The stroke knocked us for six, our lives changed from then. Emma was there the whole time.”
Michael has been discharged from Walkergate Park this month and the family are looking forward to starting their new life together in an adapted bungalow.
The couple hope to marry in 2026.
Walkergate Park is part of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW). It provides services for people with a disability caused by injury or disease affecting the brain, spinal cord or muscles.