Ontario couple weds in hospital lobby after life-saving brain surgery

A young Ontario couple tied the knot at an unconventional wedding venue on Monday – a hospital lobby.

The bride, Siqi Yang, underwent life-saving brain surgery last February. The operation followed the discovery of a tangled blood vessel that connected arteries and veins in her brain, medically referred to as an Arteriovenous Malformation Rupture.

Siqi Yang is seen undergoing treatment at a Toronto-area hospital. “It's just like a time bomb in her brain. When it explodes, it's causing internal bleeding in her head,” the groom, Tao Gao, told CTV News Toronto.

Months of rehabilitation treatment at the Queensway Health Centre in Etobicoke followed Yang’s surgery. There, she regained the ability to walk and talk.

“I feel our relationship has improved. We have a more connected relationship because I need to spend more time taking care of her so I feel ours is more connected since this happened,” Gao said.

The couple met as colleagues working at a T&T Supermarket in 2016 and have been together ever since. “I fell in love with her,” Gao said.

To honour the strength and resilience of Yang’s recovery at the Queensway Health Centre, they chose it as their wedding venue.

After suffering a brain bleed and undergoing a craniotomy, Siqqi made it her goal to one day be able to walk down the aisle and recite her vows. Today she did just that at @THP_hospital with her care team by her side. Congratulations Tao & Siqqi! @Goodable pic.twitter.com/u8XOVePg9J

— Keeley Rogers (@Torontokeeley) January 9, 2023

Beyond friends and family, some special guests were in attendance – the health-care professionals who facilitated Yang’s recovery.

“When the music came on for the rehearsal you could see the whole team just tear right up because this is the outcome and the fruits of their labour,” Kathryn Hayward-Murray with Trillium Health Partners said.

Siqi Yang and Tao Gao on their wedding day. “I was speaking with Pam, the speech language pathologist who worked so closely with our bride, to be able to say her vows and that being such an important part of the experience.”