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After learning his girlfriend, Martine Drouillard, was pregnant during the fall of 2019, Teon Kennedy started making plans to propose at their baby shower. However, on April 12, 2020, Martine prematurely gave birth to their daughter, Morgan, at just 25 weeks due to preeclampsia and severe HELLP syndrome. Focussed on tending to their daughter in the NICU amid COVID-19, Teon's plans got put on hold for 10 months. But thanks to the help of some incredible hospital staff members at NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) in New York, the proposal was more memorable than they ever imagined [3].
"Our daughter, Morgan, was born prematurely," Teon said in the video. "And she's been in the NICU for 10 months. And she's been making tremendous progress here at NewYork-Presbyterian. Today, I'm gonna ask her mom to marry me so we can live out the rest of our lives together."
Teon enlisted the staff to help with the details. After decorating the hallway with rose petals and Morgan's room with heartfelt photos, they read poems that Teon wrote in Martine's honour. Overcome with emotion, Martine began crying before Teon was able to get down on one knee.
Because the pair have clocked hundreds of hours at the hospital since their daughter was born, they bonded with the doctors and nurses who were caring for Morgan around the clock, including overseeing multiple procedures on her brain and lungs. Naturally, her fighting spirit earned her the nickname "The Queen of the NICU."
"After many months visiting Morgan at the hospital and building a family with the NYP doctors, nurses and staff, Teon decided it was time and he couldn't think of a better place to do it than in the NICU with his NYP family," the press release said.
Watch until the end to see Martine's heartwarming response.