A Leeds mum who turned a Yorkshire hospital into her dream wedding venue is due to come home after almost two years in hospital.
Couple Darren and Michelle Norbury said 'I do' in Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield in June last year. Michelle boasted a flamboyant wedding dress, and Darren wore a smart patterned suit and pink tie, while they sat in a hospital ward. They were surrounded by balloons, flowers, cards, and a large wedding cake. It followed an extremely difficult time for Michelle who wasn't sure if she'd be able to say the words 'I do' on her big day.
After two years on the ward at Pinderfields Hospital, Michelle will finally be home and hopefully in time for their first wedding anniversary in June. But Michelle will leave hospital with a completely new life and home.
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Michelle had a meningioma excision in 2021 - a brain surgery involving making an incision in the scalp and removing a piece of bone from the skull. The surgery left her needing tracheostomy ventilation in her throat, subsequently leaving her without a voice and she has remained in hospital ever since.
Due to Michelle's medical condition the council have had to move the family, so that her home can be fitted with a ceiling tracker, hoist and wet room. But they won't redecorate the new home after the equipment has been fitted meaning Darren will have to do most of the work himself.
Kirsty Elton, who has worked for Yorkshire Community Healthcare for two years, and supports Michelle, has set up a gofundme page to raise funds to help get the house ready for Michelle's return home. She said: "Both of them won't go and look for any help, they're just not that kind of people and I get that - I have MS myself and I refuse to be on any kind of benefits - so I get it.
"I gave myself a target of getting them home before their wedding anniversary in June, I've been supporting them while Michelle was in hospital and getting everything ready for them to get them back home - Michelle walked into hospital with a brain tumour and came out completely different but they don't want to ask for any help.
"As a family they have had had an awful lot happen so if we can do something where people can help it would be great. So I thought I would do a gofundme and see if there is anything we can do."
Michelle and Darren are almost starting from scratch with their new home. Darren has been working as hard as he can to get the home decorated and ready for his wife, but they have just been left with a shell of a home, says Kirsty.
Kirsty, who is also from Leeds, added: "They have said to me we don't need anything, we have each other. But Darren wants to get most of the painting done before all the hoists and tracking go in.
"Darren and the kids are currently just living upstairs because the rest of the house is a building site, the walls have been plastered after the renovation works were done but that's it. It's a shell of a home."
She added: "Michelle also lost her mum while she was in hospital and couldn't go to funeral and I think that's another thing she will have to deal with when she comes out because it hasn't sunk in yet. She is going home a changed person and going home to a totally different house to the one she used to live in.
"If this was me I would be heartbroken, yet she has a good outlook on life. They have got such a great way of being together. When I go in to have a chat about care and what we can do she always says 'the thing is you have to look at life and be grateful for what you have'. Darren always said he wouldn't get married but when this happened to Michelle he said he can't lose her and married her.
"He said 'I don't want to lose you not being my wife' - he is breaking his back to make this home ready."
You can donate to the gofundme page here
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