Couple says ‘I do’ in ICU so bride’s dying father can give her away

An Indiana couple decided to say ‘I do’ in a hospital intensive care unit so the bride’s father could be there to give her away.

Shelby Schweikhart and Jared Conville, from Evansville, got engaged last year and were planning to get married on October 3, 2020. 

But their plans changed when Schweikhart’s father, Steven, was told that his testicular cancer had returned, reported the Evansville Courier & Press.

It had spread to his lungs and was not responding to chemotherapy.

So the couple decided to move up their wedding date 10 months early and have the ceremony be performed at Steven’s bedside in the ICU at St Vincent Hospital in Evansville.    

Shelby Schweikhart and Jared Conville, from Evansville, Indiana, got engaged last month and were planning to get married on October 3, 2020. They decided to move up the wedding after Schweikhart’s father, Steven, was admitted to the ICU at St Vincent Hospital in Evansville. Pictured: Schweikhart and Conville’s wedding

Last month, Steven was told that his testicular cancer had returned, and it wasn’t responding to chemotherapy. Pictured: Schweikhart kisses her father on her wedding day 

The Courier & Press reports that Steven had been in remission testicular cancer for the second time. 

But, in December, he contracted pneumonia. That’s when doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his lungs, and was likely terminal.

The couple decided they had to get married sooner than later to make sure Steven was able to witness the big moment. 

Schweikhart told WTHR that she called her pastor on December 29, who said he would be able to get there in about 30 minutes.

She says she was planning on getting married in the leggings and sweatshirt that she had on, but her friends wouldn’t hear of it.

‘A couple [of] friends went to the bridal store because my wedding dress wasn’t going to be be here until February,’ Schweikhart told WTHR. 

‘They picked out a dress for me and a veil. I just threw it on and off we went to his ICU room.’

The friends also bought Conville a jersey of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck because the couple had always joked about having a Colts-themed wedding. 

Schweikhart’s friends picked out a dress and veil from a local bridal store and bought Conville and Indianapolis Colts jersey. Pictured: Conville (left) and Schweikhart (right) with Steven in the ICU on their wedding day

A video of the ceremony has gone viral with more than 300,000 views. After the wedding, Schweikhart said her father wanted to stop life support, and is currently at home in hospice care. Pictured: Schweikhart and Conville’s wedding

Schweikhart posted a video of the five-minute ceremony to Facebook, captioning it: ‘It was the most beautiful, bittersweet moment of my life. My dad got to see his baby girl get married, and it meant the world to me that he was able to see it.’

The clip has since gone viral, garnering more than 300,000 views and being shared more than 3,500 times. 

‘I didn’t expect it to go viral. I just posted it on there for our family and friends to see,’ Schweikhart told the Courier & Press. 

‘Because he was in the ICU for six days and on a ventilator, I didn’t have time to contact anyone or really talk to anybody. 

‘So I posted it on Facebook to kind of update everyone. And that’s when everyone messaged me about the video and asked to share it.’     

Shortly after the wedding, Schweikhart said her father wanted to stop life support. He was discharged from the hospital and is currently at home in hospice care.