A couple who had their wedding in hospital because of the groom's desperate need of a lung transplant finally hosted their dream wedding after he received an organ donation and made an inspiring recovery. For Garrett White, 33, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the road to his wedding to Taylor Clark, 33, was a years-long journey with hospital visits, operations and scares – but it was the thought of marrying Taylor that kept Garrett looking forward. Prior to meeting Taylor, Garrett was a seemingly-healthy 23-year-old – but, over time, he started having random aches, pains and a persistent cough. After doctors noticed scarring on Garrett's lungs, he was initially diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a rare condition causing small patches of swollen tissue to develop in the organs of the body. That diagnosis then changed in 2016 to a form of vasculitis, a group of conditions that cause inflammation of the blood vessels, which doctors identified as being present in Garrett’s lungs. Over the next three or four years – during which time he met Taylor – Garrett managed his condition, experiencing only the occasional flare up. But it wasn't until Garrett contracted COVID – first in July 2020, and then again in January 2021 – that his health started to rapidly trend downwards.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00They thought this could be their only chance to get married.
00:04You're now husband and wife. Congratulations.
00:08Garrett was about to get a lung transplant, but not before marrying the love of his life, Taylor.
00:15He was a seemingly healthy 23-year-old when he started getting random coughs and pains,
00:20which led him down a long health journey.
00:23My lungs kept collapsing.
00:25I ended up having multiple surgeries with my native lungs to fasten them to my ribcage.
00:31But unfortunately, my lungs were just too torn up and just too scarred up for that to really matter.
00:39I was losing so much weight so rapidly that it was terrifying for people around us that could see it happening.
00:46That's when doctors started talking about a possible lung transplant.
00:51For me, it got to the point where, like, anything was better than what I was going through at the time.
00:57It was really hard on everybody, not just me.
01:00Taylor, she wasn't sleeping. She was taking care of me every waking hour.
01:05All I wanted to do was just be there for him and help get through whatever it was.
01:10Things just kept going down, downhill, and finally it kind of got to the point where they were like,
01:16we need to begin the process for referring y'all to a transplant center.
01:20But Garrett couldn't start the process without one thing.
01:24We were scheduled to go to Vanderbilt to get evaluated, and I was like, we're not going up there without being engaged.
01:30The proposal was long overdue. I mean, I wanted to do it before then, but I just kept getting sick.
01:37And after the proposal...
01:39We were like, you know, we definitely want to get married and have that experience before the transplant
01:45because, I mean, we had no clue how that was going to go.
01:49I guess a lot of the things that you might wonder about, like if someone's going to be there when things are hard,
01:55we had already checked those boxes.
01:58So everyone came together to make their hospital wedding unforgettable.
02:03A Judge family friend married them, and Taylor's bestie drove five hours to bring them a mini wedding cake.
02:10The nurses on our hospital floor, they overheard that we had a hospital wedding and didn't have rings
02:17and went down to the gift shop and had rings purchased for us.
02:20We were going through things that a lot of people weren't, but, you know, it was...
02:25We're still living.
02:26Still living.
02:31And the thought of one day living their dream wedding kept Garrett going after surgery.
02:37It was kind of like a light at the end of the tunnel.
02:39So it's been a crazy journey, and I know we've had little setbacks, but we're finally getting you out of here.
02:44As far as, like, the dream that I had, I just kept picturing her in a white dress and just, like, seeing her for the first time.
03:02And Garrett never did give up, so he finally got to live his dream.
03:09I was crying before she came out. I was crying in anticipation of crying. It was incredible.
03:15It was just everything and more that I'd dreamed about.
03:19She said that she never really pictured having a big wedding or anything.
03:23I didn't. I never thought that I would want to do that, but we had way too much to celebrate to not do that.
03:28Like celebrating the ability to finally be able to do the little things together again.
03:36Every day, I have a moment where, I mean, I could just be driving down the road, and I have just immense gratitude for just the most mundane thing that I'm doing.
03:49I remember being in the hospital and thinking, if I get out of this bed, I'm not going to waste another day.
04:02I miss taking out the trash. I miss going to get the mail. I miss, you know, just the little things, the little things that I miss the most.
04:09Every time I look at him, it's like, you know, we're living a normal life, or, you know, as normal as it can be.
04:18Don't take things for granted and to appreciate the little things in life, because when you can't do those things, you'll miss them.
04:29Nothing's guaranteed with your health tomorrow. Nothing. I know it's cliche. Everybody says it, but it's true.
04:35And it's important to, you know, take a look around and put your phone down and listen to the birds and just little, little things.