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Clockwise from top left: Catie McCabe and Bridget Strong marry in the BWH Chapel; nurses fashioned a white jacket and tie for Matt McCabe’s IV pole; and the beautiful wedding cake created by Catering.
After nearly two years of planning the wedding of their dreams, Catie McCabe and Bridget Strong put the big ceremony on hold and opted for one at BWH, where McCabe’s father, Matt, is awaiting a heart transplant.
“It wouldn’t have been right without him,” said McCabe, 24, who met her fiancé Strong during their freshmen year of college six years ago.
When nurses on Shapiro 10, where Matt McCabe has been a patient since August, got wind of the ceremony plans, they launched into wedding planner-mode, recruiting help from Chaplaincy, Catering and other staff throughout the hospital to make the day extra special.
Chaplain Rev. Vera O’Brien performed the service in the BWH Chapel Oct. 9, selecting meaningful readings and music for the brides and the 15 family members and friends who were present. Catering pulled out all the stops in creating a beautifully frosted white wedding cake—which Strong declared “too pretty to cut into”—and tomatoes carved into the shape of rosebuds as the centerpiece of platters of petite sandwiches and other foods for the reception.
Emily Dunning, RN, dressed up McCabe’s IV pole (with IV pump and medication) as a wedding guest, fashioning a white jacket and tie, and Lisa Danehy, RN, escorted him to the ceremony to ensure he felt well. Though it was not the wedding they had originally planned, McCabe and Strong and their families felt touched by the compassion of all staff involved.
“For the girls to change their plans and set up the wedding here and share it with us, even though I’m not really mobile, was very nice,” said Matt McCabe, of Jordan, New York. “The staff here are terrific; this is a nice place to be.”
His wife, Gayle, who has been staying with him since August, agreed, noting the patient-family centered focus of all staff she has encountered. “We believe someone’s spiritual and emotional care are just as important as the physical care in their healing process,” she said. “It’s much better for patients to be surrounded by family, and that makes us feel part of the healing process. We feel very blessed to be here.”
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