TROY, Mich. – Saaja Rayford has been working as a nurse on a COVID unit at Beaumont Troy for more than a year.
Rayford was among the first healthcare workers in Michigan to receive the COVID vaccine.
“We’re at the end of that tunnel. I can see the light,” Rayford said.
Her boyfriend, Tyler Ashcroft, is a nurse assistant at the same hospital.
“She’s been working five 12-hour shifts a week, this was her one day off,” Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft reached out to the owner of Tappers Diamonds and Fine Jewelry in the Somerset Collection shopping mall and requested an engagement ring.
“The story resonated with me personally. Someone that’s really had a hard time and really giving back on the front line,” CEO Mark Tapper said.
While the couple was at the mall to “meet friends for brunch,” they stopped at Tapper’s.
Ashcroft proposed at the jewelry store. She said yes.
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