This is the heartwarming moment a Michigan man dropped down on one knee to propose to his wife for the second time as she was being wheeled out of a hospital after recovering from the coronavirus.
Geno and Rheamie Crenshaw had planned to renew their vows for their 17th anniversary in October – but she fell ill with the deadly virus in March and ended up in the intensive care unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, according to Gander Newsroom.
Rheamie, 49, a mother-of-three from Detroit who has a history of asthma and diabetes, developed bilateral pneumonia and almost went into cardiac arrest before her condition stabilized after a week in intensive care.
When Geno found out his wife finally beat the bug, he decided to present her with a square-cut diamond ring when she emerged in a wheelchair – a sweet moment that was captured on video.
Rheamie reacts to her hubby’s proposal by burying her head in her hands amid an applause from a group of people.
Geno then slides the ring onto his wife’s finger as the person shooting the video says, “Let’s see it!”
The elated couple then shares their first embrace since Rheamie was admitted to the hospital.
Rheamie, an office manager for Ford-Tel Medical Center in Dearborn Heights, said she thinks she caught the bug at a grocery store, where she spent “hours in line waiting for the checkout” as some shoppers coughed and sneezed.
On March 12, she first noticed pain in her left leg and lower back, thinking it was sciatica before she began experiencing flu-like symptoms, including sweats and chills.
Her doctor told her she was showing signs of COVID-19 and gave her a breathing treatment and oxygen to help.
“I was feeling very weak. Thursday, the 19th, I was sitting in my chair at home gasping, like I was drowning in water,” she told Gander Newsroom.
Geno took her to Beaumont Hospital, where tests confirmed that she had the disease, which doctors tried to manage with oxygen and Tylenol.
They also gave her the option of trying the combination of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, but after a few doses she experienced an abnormal heart rate and the treatment was immediately stopped.
She was then given steroids and oral antibiotics instead and eventually recovered.
Rheamie said she believes her faith and focusing on the positive allowed her to survive the ordeal.
“Staying positive and keeping your body active, as much as you can, even if it’s the little thing of sitting up, work your way to stand up and then sit back down so your body can fight, and lots of prayer,” she told the news outlet.
“I won’t be 100 percent for a couple months. Last night, it was rough trying to breathe. I was still gasping a little bit because I still have to have my lungs get a little stronger. I walk around as much as I can,” she added.
Through it all, Rheamie said, she was lucky her hubby has not contracted the illness.
