Intensive care NHS nurse gets dream proposal amid heroic fight against coronavirus
21 March 2020, 13:55
An ICU nurse who has been helping care for coronavirus patients instead of going on a dream holiday has had the surprise of a lifetime after her boyfriend got down on one knee.
Hannah Snaith, 25, has been working long hours at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, as coronavirus cases in the UK continue to rise.
She had been due to travel to Dublin with boyfriend Jamie Shilling, 27, who unbeknownst to her was planning on popping the question.
But due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, their flights were cancelled alongside thousands of others.
Hannah works on the frontline of the NHS, and Jamie was determined to make her feel extra special as she puts herself at risk to save others.
Jamie decided to hire a big screen to park on the Newcastle Quayside, which displayed a photo of their 18-month-old son George, alongside the words “will you marry Daddy?”
He got down on one knee in front of it and an emotional Hannah said yes.
The couple, from Throckley in Newcastle, have been together for nine years after meeting at school.
When asked if she expected it, she told LBC News “Absolutely not, no. Jamie was like Hannah, it won’t be happening for another few years, so I can’t believe it.
“I didn’t even notice [the picture] at first, I had no idea and then I thought - I know those two, what’s going on?!”
Jamie was determined to make Hannah feel special despite their holiday being cancelled.
He told LBC News “She’s just the best. After everything that’s happened, I thought, I can’t not make it happen you know, so, I’ve done everything I can to try and do my best and I think it’s ok.
“It’s been really tough. She came home from a nightshift on Monday and she was upset. That just said to me that I need to make this happen, I can’t give up or stop the special moment I had planned, so here we are."
When asked if this has helped to ease some stress, Hannah said “Absolutely, I’m not even thinking about work now. It has been really hard this past few weeks but I work with a really good team of people and we all just get together, everyone in the NHS.”
The city centre hospital where she works was at the centre of media coverage when the coronavirus outbreak first reached the UK.
In January, the first two people to be diagnosed with the virus in the UK were treated at its specialist infectious disease unit.
They were Chinese nationals who were taken ill at a hotel in York, and have since been discharged.
