An ICU Wedding | Intermountain Medical Center

One of the things Kylee Porter was most looking forward to this June was getting married to her fiancée Dakota Warner while surrounded by friends and family.

On Jan. 23, 2021, Kylee Porter received the devastating news that her father Michael Porter, who she had just seen earlier that day, had suffered sudden heart failure and was rushed to Intermountain Medical Center, in Murray, UT. An MRI later revealed although he survived, his brain wasn’t functioning anymore.

Kylee realized her dad couldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle. She asked if it was possible to have the wedding in her dad’s ICU room so he could be present for the ceremony.

“The guy who is supposed to walk me down the aisle and give me away, someone who I’ve looked up to my whole entire life isn’t going to be there on my special day,” said Kylee. “He called me his princess and I need my daddy there.”

Due to COIVD-19, there are limits on the number of people allowed as visitors, but because Michael was in end of life care, he was allowed more visitors.

Within hours, nurses reached out to let Kylee know she could have the ceremony in her father’s room.

What Kylee didn’t know was the caregivers who had been helping her father began working to decorate his room with whatever they could find to make her wedding day special. They got balloons from the gift shop, made paper flowers, and even bought a giant wooden heart that read, “You have my whole heart for my whole life.” All the caregivers working the shift signed the back of the heart with their own well-wishes.

“It’s been tough in the ICU during COVID-19, but being able to give Kylee her special day was a small bright spot,” said Janine Roberts, RN MSN, at Intermountain Medical Center. “It reminds me of why I do what I do.”

Kylee was overwhelmed by the effort caregivers took to make her wedding day special.

She and Dakota held their ceremony at her dad’s bedside while her uncle officiated the ceremony. Michael was able to be transported back home where he passed away peacefully.