A Metro Detroit couple has been forced to put their wedding plans on hold as a man battles a serious case of COVID-19.
“Today was supposed to be our wedding,” Heather McPherson said. “So we were supposed to be married today. Instead of walking down the aisle together, we’re fighting for Jed’s life.”
McPherson, along with her friends and family, gathered in a Livonia parking lot Saturday -- not to celebrate a wedding, but to lift up prayers.
“Jed and I both became sick with COVID at the same time,” McPherson said.
She said that was back on Oct. 13. They were both unvaccinated. She beat COVID, but her fiancé, 48-year-old Jed Tancock, is still fighting for his life at St. Mary’s Mercy in Livonia.
“He has been in the hospital for now 26 days, eight of which are -- he’s been on the vent,” McPherson said. “Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any improvement with his lungs since he has been on the vent. So all of his other organs are doing well, which is a good thing.”
She said there are limited options for her fiancé.
“Unfortunately, the next steps for a chance for improvement require ECMO treatments, and also perhaps lung treatment,” McPherson said.
But McPherson said even that’s a stretch, because St. Mary’s Mercy can’t provide that treatment and other hospitals in the area turned him down.
“They say they’re at capacity and they don’t have the ability to take another patient,” she said.
So now they wait for what she hopes will be a miracle.
“It’s frustrating and heart-crashing to know that there are these treatments out there that can be life-changing for people and give them a second chance,” McPherson said.
She wants a second chance not just for her fiancé, but for them to start their life together. She’s holding their wedding rings close to her and she’s not letting go.
“I’m putting (the ring) next to my cross and believe that God will work a miracle and we’ll be able to find a spot for him and I’ll be able to put this on his finger,” McPherson said.