A little matter such as pneumonia was not going to stop their
wedding.
Hollister – A little matter such as pneumonia was not going to stop their wedding.
Josh Fluent and Michelle Allee decided to tie the knot Sunday on the front lawn of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital after the groom was admitted to the intensive care ward the day before the scheduled nuptials. The wedding was originally planned for Santa Cruz.
It was the first time the hospital has ever hosted a wedding, according to Director of Marketing and Public Relations Frankie Valent.
“We’ve been waiting for so long to get married,” Fluent said. “We’ve been looking forward to this and we both just decided to do it.”
Fluent is expected to be released in two or three days, Valent said. The couple had planned to honeymoon in Hawaii, but will postpone their plans.
“We’re going to wait till I get better,” Fluent said.
Valent said that the wedding went smoothly.
“The wedding went exceptionally well,” Valent said. “If we were a larger hospital this probably wouldn’t have been possible.”
More than 100 people gathered to witness the wedding. Safeway donated flowers and champagne to help celebrate the occasion.
“The bride had a great sense of humor about her,” Valent said. “She was wonderful to work with.”
Allee said that although the wedding did not go as she had originally planned, it was a beautiful ceremony.
“He said that he wanted to get married, so we both decided to go through with it,” Allee said. “Our love for each other kept us strong.”
Both Allee and Fluent praised the hospital staff for their hard work and generosity.
“They really helped us out,” Fluent said. “They started offering things before we could even ask.”
Both Allee and Fluent work full-time and attend Cabrillo College in Aptos. They will be looking for a house together in Santa Cruz. Fluent is planning to be a firefighter and Allee currently works as a Realtor.
“I wouldn’t have gone through with it if he hadn’t been well enough,” Allee said. “But the doctors said we could go ahead with it.”
“It was just a miracle for us,” Fluent said. “We’re really happy.”
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
