Couple's wedding day plans upended when fiancée is rushed to ICU (2025)

A fiancée was left fighting for survival in an intensive care unit (ICU) during what should have been among the happiest weeks of her life.

Ariana and Chandler Sleen were just two weeks out from their special day when the bride-to-be, who is pregnant, began experiencing severe back pain.

She was rushed to a health center in Duluth, Minnesota, wheremedical staff informed her fiancé that she had severe pneumonia and had gone into septic shock.

Ariana was put on a ventilator, and doctors began preparations for an emergency C-section.

She also had a kidney infection and a serious lung infection that prevented her from breathing on her own.

'I was definitely very terrified,' Chandler told local Fox affiliate KBJRNews.

'I mean, these are the two most important people in my life right here and they were both struggling. It was very scary.'

Miraculously, Ariana showed signs of improvement, and doctors didn't need to perform the emergency C-section.

She also began breathing on her own, and doctors removed her ventilator the day before her wedding date.

Although the couple couldn't have the wedding they were planning, Ariana's hospital staff helped them make her day special.

Ariana and Chandler decided to get married in the hospital, and her nursing staff decorated her suite for the big day.

Ariana told KBJR that the medical staff gave her the 'Taylor Swift Suite' and helped decorate her hospital room for the ceremony.

Deanna Anderson, one of Ariana's nurses atEssentia Health, told KBJR that she wanted to make room for a wedding cake.

Another nurse, Madeline Vogel, admitted that the staff 'had to get creative' when decorating the hospital for the wedding.

'This might top the list for the happiest things I've seen at work,' Vogel added.

Ariana said that the nurses who helped her recovery were 'the kindest, sweetest people,' and she was grateful that the medical staff went the extra mile to make her wedding day special.

Since their big day, Ariana has been recovering as the couple plans to welcome their son Sebastian into the world. The baby's due date is June 29.

Ariana said that she is suffering some memory loss and had to learn how to walk and drink water after she was released from the hospital.

'If there is one major take away from this whole thing is please take the chance and opportunity to know God’s love for you,' she wrote on aGoFundMepage.

Ariana went on to say that she was grateful to her husband for staying by her side in the hospital and for the support her loved ones showed her during her hospitalization.

She told KBJR that she plans to invite the medical staff to her reception and is excited to return to the hospital for a happier reason when their child is delivered.

Minnesota

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