Health workers tie the knot at Oakey Hospital
A HOSPITAL is not usually a wedding venue of choice for most people, but newlyweds Brad and Ann Hay – both staff members at Oakey Hospital and Dr EAF McDonald Nursing Home – wouldn’t have wanted to get married anywhere else.
Mr and Mrs Hay tied the knot in the facility’s magnificent gardens on May 6, surrounded by their family, friends and the people they call their extended family – the residents and fellow staff members.
Mr Hay has been a wardsperson at the hospital for about 23 years, while Mrs Hay has worked as an AIN (assistant in nursing) at the nursing home for about five years.
The couple met at work and soon discovered they had a lot in common, chatting during breaks and after work.
Romance blossomed and a marriage proposal came about a year ago during a visit to Mr Hay’s daughter and her family.
“We were walking through the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and Brad got down on one knee and asked me to marry him,” Mrs Hay said.
“Of course I said yes!”
When the time came to plan the wedding both Brad and Ann felt very strongly about including the residents and staff members at Oakey Hospital and Dr EAF McDonald Nursing Home.
“It’s more than a job to us. We spend so much time there and just love the residents and their families and our workmates – we genuinely feel like we are all part of one big family,” Mr Hay said.
On the big day the bride walked through decorated garden archways and hedged paths, past scented rose gardens, to meet her groom in the bush garden that had also been decorated with an archway, where they made their vows.
The bride and groom also took time on the day to see each of the bedridden patients who were unable to attend the ceremony and reception. They will honeymoon on a cruise to Noumea and the Pacific Islands.