She said ‘yes’ — on the Grand Canyon Skywalk
GRAND CANYON WEST – If not for an unfortunate run-in with gas-station goji berries in Kingman, Nadia Milkova would have missed the most terrifyingly wonderful day of her life.
With her knees shaking, and one of her boyfriend’s knees bended, she said “Yes” from a place the committed acrophobic wanted to scream, “No!” — on a glass walkway suspended over a 2,000foot drop.
“Oh my God, I’m still shaking,” Milkova, 32, said after the proposal. “I’m not sure if it’s my fear of heights or because of what just happened.”
The marriage proposal played out Tuesday, Jan. 16, in front of dozens of tourists on the Skywalk, the transparent horseshoe-shaped attraction jutting from a jagged cliff along the west rim of the Grand Canyon.
When Francisco “Paco” Moises, 35, popped the question at Skywalk’s apex — a point of no return for anyone fearful of heights — a visibly shocked Milkova released her grip on the rail just long enough for Moises to slip the ring on her finger.
Only later did Milkova take the ring off her right hand and put it on her left, one hand on the rail at all times.
The original plan, Moises said, involved a trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and a proposal on terra firma. The Miami, Fla. couple had flown into Las Vegas and rented a car for the day. Milkova didn’t know what was in store.
But Moises landed in a Kingman hospital after an allergic reaction to the aforementioned goji berries. After a massive dose of Benadryl and a few hours of rest, the journey continued but the South Rim was out.
Instead Moises piloted to Grand Canyon West and Skywalk. “I’d heard about (Skywalk) and it sounded cool,” he said. “I didn’t want to come this far and not propose.”
But Milkova has a horror of heights. With protective booties over her shoes and fear shrouding her heart, she stepped onto the platform. As her feet slid along smooth glass, so did her hands along the rail as she muttered, “I can’t do this, I can’t do this.”
At the farthest point along the Skywalk, Moises turned to his girlfriend of seven years, bent a knee and asked, “Will you marry me?” Onlookers gathered around to enjoy the only sight more interesting than the canyon.
Scattered applause rang out when she said yes.
The two met when Moises, a film production assistant, was charged with getting signed waivers from people who appeared in scenes of MTV’s “Jersey Shore.”