Amazing staff surprise patient celebrating 20th wedding anniversary
Kind-hearted staff who were surprised to learn one of their long-term patients was celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary, put together a surprise of their own to mark the special occasion.
Kevin Hill is currently being cared for on Ward 310 at Royal Derby Hospital and his wife Camille visits him every day.
When staff found out that the pair were due to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, they got to work to make the occasion as special as possible by creating a romantic meal for two at Kevin’s bedside and decorating his room with balloons.
The team also arranged for some photos to be taken of the special day, for the couple to keep.
Now Kevin and Camille have thanked the staff who “always go above and beyond”, shared their love story so far and told of how Kevin’s illness and hospitalisation has brought them closer than ever.
The pair first met in Taiwan back in 2001 when Kevin was teaching in a training programme, where Camille was a participant.
But it wasn’t love at first sight for the duo, Kevin explained, as some miscommunication over pepperoni pizza nearly ended their relationship before it started.
Kevin,54, said: “We went to this Italian restaurant with the group from the training programme. We were all chatting away and I stood up to introduce myself.
“I had ordered a pepperoni pizza so I reached down without looking to grab a slice and then I immediately spat it out all over the table - it was covered with sugar!
“Apparently it is part of the culture in that area to do that but I wasn’t expecting it.
“Camille wasn’t impressed at all, she thought I was being disrespectful to her culture and didn’t think spitting my food out was very gentlemanly.”
Despite them getting off to a rocky start, Kevin asked Camille on a date and planned to take her to a little cove near the beach, after a meal at a restaurant. But it didn’t start well, when Kevin was late.
Camille, 51, said: “We went to the restaurant and he was late. I looked at my watch and thought I will stay five minutes. Then in he came wearing a Daffy Duck tie.
“He was four minutes late, not five, so I thought I will give him a chance.”
Kevin had big plans for the couple’s first date.
He said: “So I knew she would love the cove because it is beautiful but I had a bit of a plan. To get there you have to go through a tunnel which was used by the army and then abandoned.
“It is quite a dark tunnel and rocky with stones on the floor so you have to use a light to walk through it but my eyes are very good so I didn’t take a torch!
“I offered my hand to Camille but she didn’t want it. She stumbled a little bit so she grabbed my arm and the rest was history.”
Despite their wobbly start the pair were smitten and Kevin knew he wanted to spend his life with Camille.
He planned to propose on a romantic cruise using an unlikely prop, but things didn’t quite go to plan.
He said: “We had a bit of an inside joke between us that when I was tired I would call myself Mr Potato Head because my head was all soft and fuzzy and like mashed potato.
“So when I came up with the idea of the proposal I knew I had to get Mr and Mrs Potato Head in there somewhere.
“I planned a cruise on the East side of the island and I emptied out the inside of the Mrs potato head and replaced it with the ring which was in a box.
“The idea was to be on the boat, hopefully see some dolphins and propose to her but it didn’t quite work out because unbeknown to me Camille was really seasick.
“She was wearing a nice dress but the wind was so strong I had one hand holding her dress down and the other hand holding her hair back.
“In the end the captain took us back to the Island because Camille was unwell and the weather was getting worse.”
Kevin had to change his proposal plans and opted to instead offer Camille a bag full of gifts, which included the Mrs potato head and the hidden ring.
He said: “I gave her the bag that had a few gifts in it. She pulled the Mr potato head out and looked at it like she was really unimpressed.
“Then to show her true undying love she picked out the Mrs Potato Head and went to throw it away. I told her to take a look but she was just confused, wondering why I was giving her a toy.”
After finally realising that the toys contained an engagement ring, Kevin asked the all important question and Camille said yes.
She said: “Finally I agreed to marry him. Now I look back and see how romantic it was but then I was just so confused and seasick I didn’t know what was happening.”
The pair married on June 1, 2002, but even the wedding day didn’t go without a hitch - after some cultural mix-ups.
Kevin explains: “So aside from on the day us not having any transport or a baker to do our cake there was a bit of miscommunication and Camille ended up in tears.
“Here in England we know it is tradition for the groom to wait for the bride at the altar whereas apparently in Chinese culture the groom is supposed to meet the bride and they go to the church together, something we didn’t know beforehand.”
Camille added: “I was waiting for him to pick me up and he never came. I was crying thinking he had left me.
“My brother called and said what are you doing at home, Kevin is at the church!
“I was angry with him but of course I still wanted to marry him. My cousin gave me his car and said get to the church.”
The pair celebrated their marriage with a total of three wedding ceremonies in three months, allowing family in Taiwan and England to celebrate with them.
Now, 20 years later, they have a family of their own and are parents to Grace, 18, Sam, 17, Faith, 14 and Tim who is 12.
Kevin said: “There has never been a dull moment but that is how we like it.
“We’re still married and now we have four beautiful children.”
Although the couple put their happy marriage down to lots of fun and laughter, the past 12 months have been difficult for them both after Kevin fell ill and they never imagined they would have to celebrate their special wedding anniversary in hospital.
Camille said: “This year has been hard but it has brought us closer together.
“It has shown us how much we love each other and how we must be there for each other, fighting for each other and fighting this sickness.
“I will support Kevin no matter what and we are just so grateful for the staff on Ward 310 for always being there for us.
“Kevin has had to miss out on things since he has been in hospital and we didn’t think we would be able to do anything for our anniversary but after I mentioned it to one of the nurses they just made it happen – it was so special.
“They set a dinner table for us and we had flowers, balloons, an Indian takeaway and plastic glasses.
“We could enjoy the moment and be together and forget about everything else and where we are.”
Kevin added: “They recognise that I’ve been here for a while and it’s tough.
“They are really encouraging me and reassuring me on the bad days and we are very thankful to them.
“All of the doctors and nurses are fantastic. They help us keep going.
“Making our anniversary special was the icing on the cake.”