A PATIENT waiting on a heart transplant at Clydebank’s Golden Jubilee got married in the hospital with PPE-wearing staff acting as witnesses.

Steven Cairns, who is confined to bed, married sweetheart Katie Morris in a small ceremony after staff stepped in to help make the couple’s dream a reality.

The 49-year-old has been on an intra-aortic balloon pump, which is keeping his heart pumping, since February.

Golden Jubilee staff helped the couple organise the wedding in just a few days after Steven and Kate told them how much they wanted to get married.

The father-of-three said: “The day was just amazing. It was something we’ve wanted to do for a while, so we just asked the hospital about it and they were fantastic about the whole thing.

“Due to the current situation, everyone had to wear PPE, but we didn’t care about that, we just wanted to be married.

“We couldn’t have our families there either, but we had some tuning in on Zoom. It was quite emotional and surreal at the same time.

“I can’t thank the staff and everyone else who helped us make this happen enough, it’s just been amazing.”

The business analyst had heart problems for around seven years before having a heart attack at work which required open heart surgery for a leaking valve.

But his problems got more serious when the couple were on holiday in Lanzarote in January, when Steven passed out and then took ill at the airport on his return home.

Wife Katie, 51, added: “The day was a bit overwhelming for us, but we are really happy it happened and we are now husband and wife.

“We had spoken about doing it when we were in Lanzarote and although this isn’t what we intended, part of it was about being practical and pragmatic because you just don’t know what is going to happen in the future.

“Wearing PPE during our ceremony wasn’t something we thought we’d have to do, but it didn’t take anything away from the happiness of the occasion.

“We’d like to thank the staff who really went above and beyond to make our dream happen and for everything they did for us and continue to do for Steven. We couldn’t ask for anymore, especially at this difficult time.”

The hospital’s staff helped the couple arrange a Humanist celebrant to carry out the ceremony, with healthcare assistant Rod Escalante and nurse Kerry Campbell, who are part of the team caring for Steven, acting as the couple’s official witnesses.

They also helped decorate Steven’s room, the communications team took the official wedding photographs and video and staff nurse Liz Davidson baked the couple a three-tier wedding cake.