(TNS) — They got married in a hospital. Now the newlyweds are awaiting a heart transplant for the groom.

Mallory DeRoss, 39, and Brian DeRoss, 54, started their journey together about a year ago while working for the same company. It all began with the simple exchange of a Jolly Rancher, as Mallory tells it.

The couple’s big day was June 29, a significant day for Mallory, who has an affinity for astrology. They met in September 2024 and got engaged in the middle of June.

“My zodiac sign is a Scorpio [which] the planet is Mars for. And he is a Cancer, and he has the moon,” Mallory said.

On that date, according to Mallory, Mars and the moon are said to have “kissed.”

good wedding

Despite the fateful date, the wedding coming to fruition wasn’t always a given.

Brian, a resident of Elk Creek, Erie County, was diagnosed with heart failure in 2021. He went to Allegheny General Hospital for a couple of weeks and was put on a medication regimen. His heart was stable for a while, and he avoided surgery.

But in March of this year his heart failure symptoms — shortness of breath and water retention — reappeared and he reluctantly returned to the hospital. He went to Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, but things had worsened. He was admitted to Allegheny General, where doctors put in a left ventricular assist device, which mechanically helps the heart pump blood to the body.

“This is until I get a heart transplant, but this machine does have a shelf life,” Brian said.

Weeks after the procedure, the week of the wedding, he noticed an infection in his stomach. He was reluctant to return to the hospital — he had been there for over a month — and worried about missing his wedding day.

“The infection urgently needed treatment, and I told him, ‘You need to come in here and get treatment,'” said Madelyn Deiss, mechanical circulatory support coordinator at Allegheny General Hospital.

Through the persuasion of his mom and Mallory — as well as Deiss promising that she’d make the wedding happen no matter what — DeRoss agreed to come in.

“They put the machine in me on April 16. But in mid-June, I noticed the infection. They told me I had an infection in my bloodstream,” he said. “They kept me in the hospital for a week, saving my life.”

The staff at Allegheny General Hospital stepped in to help the couple reach their romantic milestone.

Deiss planned an impromptu ceremony in the hospital courtyard that was attended by the couple’s friends from Erie, with a friend officiating. Deiss and her co-worker, Laura Lynn, brought a cake and decorations for Brian’s room.

The coordination took some effort. Brian had to leave his room with equipment that keeps his heart working and still required monitoring.

“We just made it happen,” Deiss said.

As an LVAD coordinator, she helps patients navigate lifestyle changes that come with the machine. She doesn’t usually work on weekends, but this one was special.

“I felt like this was a privilege to do this for them,” Deiss said.

Their kindness at the hospital made a difference.

“It gave me a little bit more hope and hope in humanity again,” Brian said.

“It reminded me of my why I’m a nurse,” Deiss said. “I saw directly how I could make something meaningful happen. I am treating him as a whole person and understanding what matters to him.”

During Brian’s last visit at the hospital, he required a second machine be put in due to a complication with the first surgery.

Through it all, Mallory’s love helps him keep going.

“It just gives me that smile, that spark,” he said. “When I am saying my prayers and counting my blessings every morning, that is where I start, with her,” he said.

“Without her, I don’t think I’d even be alive. I probably would’ve died in my bed.”

Now the two are not taking a moment for granted. At the top of their goal list is a heart transplant for Brian and the hope of living a long life together.

It won’t be easy; Brian is currently unable to work, and his short-term disability has ended.

“I am trying to scramble for survival,” he said.

He carries two large machines that require electricity.

“I got to have this black case, it’s critical,” he said.

In the event of power outage, his home is prioritized for generator access. Amid such challenges, they remain joyful. A house and a heart transplant, not necessarily in that order, are still on the list.

“It’s not an easy ride,” Brian said. “But I am just grateful every day that I open my eyes and have air in my lungs.”

Living fully means spending time together and with family — Brian’s 19-year-old son and Mallory’s 17- and 13-year-old daughters — taking walks and spending time in nature.

“We are not taking the days for granted anymore. We’re not dwelling,” Mallory said.

“The opportunity will come,” Brian said. “Someone will open that door. It’s just about being ready for it.”