In sickness and in health... Covid medics marry in hospital chapel
CHURCHES may be closed, but one couple were able to still get married in the middle of the pandemic.
A nurse and a doctor who were forced to cancel their summer wedding due to the outbreak tied the knot at work in their hospital chapel.
Jann Tipping, 34, an ambulatory emergency nurse, and Annalan Navaratnam, 30, an acute medical registrar, married at the end of April in the Grade Ii-listed chapel at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
The couple, who are both front-line key workers treating Covid-19 patients, were forced to cancel their wedding amid fears that their families would not be able to travel safely from Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka.
Yet rather than postpone the event, the pair, from Tulse Hill in south London, wanted to get married with the help of the hospital’s chaplaincy team, with their guests watching remotely.
The Church of England has granted a few dozen special licences for weddings during the lockdown, some of which are believed to have included those for terminal patients.
Jann said: “We wanted to have the ceremony while everyone was still healthy, even if it meant our loved ones having to watch us on a screen. We wanted to make sure we could celebrate while we were all still able to. The chaplaincy team worked hard to get permission for us to be married, which we appreciated greatly at a time when so much was going on.
‘We wanted to celebrate while we were still able to... The chaplaincy team worked hard to get permission’
“A date was set within two weeks and we hadn’t bought my dress, our rings and other things we needed so we rushed to get everything done quickly.”
The service was held by Rev Mia Hilborn, head of spiritual healthcare at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation
Trust, with only the Rev Hilborn, Jann, Annalan and two witnesses inside the chapel.
“It was nice being just us, it felt very intimate,” said Jann, who has worked at the hospital for six years.
After the ceremony, the newly-weds hosted a virtual drinks reception for guests – and had sent champagne to their homes in advance – which included their first dance and speeches.
Rev Hilborn said: “At such a challenging time for staff, as chaplains we strive to offer as much support as we can... I was delighted to be able to get special permission to marry Jann and Annalan in the beautiful chapel at St Thomas’. It was a lovely service and I was thrilled to be part of it.”