ANSONIA, Conn. (WFSB) - A newlywed couple from Ansonia turned tragedy into hope this weekend when they held their wedding ceremony at Gaylord Hospital, where the groom is recovering from a serious car accident.
Mark Villada was injured in a car accident in Southbury in October, leaving him with broken bones and fractured vertebrae. The accident left him unable to walk.
Villada came to Gaylord Hospital to relearn to move. He and his fiancée Elise were planning a wedding before the accident and asked to hold their ceremony at the hospital with one mission: for Mark to stand while saying his vows.
“We love each other. It didn’t really matter,” Mark Villada said about the unconventional venue.
Mark accomplished his goal of standing during the November 29 ceremony, with his physical therapist Donna Piercey just steps away for support.
“I’m pretty sure I teared up,” Mark said. “It was really relieving that I was able to do that again.”
Piercey said the hospital treats the whole patient, not just their injuries.
“At Gaylord, we treat patients, but it’s not just the injuries that people have or the deficits they come to us with. We really treat the whole patient. Sometimes it’s listening to them cry, making them laugh, and sometimes it’s being by their side so they can marry the love of their life,” she said.
The hospital team came together quickly to prepare decorations and even a cake for the ceremony.
“It’s more about going above and beyond and just those little touches to make that day a little more special for them,” said Dorothy Orlowski, manager of patient relations at Gaylord Hospital.
Elise Villada said the support made a difference during a traumatic time.
“Going through something as traumatic as that accident was for him and us as a whole family, to have a team that was so supportive for him made a huge difference,” she said.
Mark goes home Monday. His next goal is ambitious: “I’d eventually like to be able to run.”
But his main motivation remains getting back to his daughter.
“That was the main drive, for me to get back to my daughter,” he said.