Patient pops the question on hospital ward at RJAH

Getting down on one knee can be hard at the best of times, but for Andrew Estcourt, a patient at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, it was a physical challenge!

The 44-year-old, from Winterley, in Cheshire, was having surgery to remove a rare tumour from the sciatic nerve when he popped the question to his girlfriend Selina Lawton at his bedside – and she said yes!

Staff at the Oswestry-based hospital helped Andrew prepare for the occasion, gathering friends and family around him and helping him buy flowers.

He had planned to propose in a very different way, but discovering the tumour changed everything. Andrew said: “Originally my GP said that I had pulled a muscle in my leg, but because it kept hurting I kept going to the doctors.

“It turned out to be a bone tumour which needed to be removed immediately. I ended up at RJAH and I cannot fault the care I had. I’d booked a holiday to Portugal, the surgeon said it can be worked around but I couldn’t get travel insurance.

“I decided to have the surgery and lose the holiday, during which Portugal experienced a heatwave! The operation has been quite traumatic, but the staff were absolutely brilliant.

“I still wanted to propose to Selina, so I had to get my son to bring the ring to the hospital. I turned to her and asked her if she would do me the honour of being my wife.

“She was knocked back a bit really, but instantly she said: ‘of course I will!’ I had this whole proposal speech planned out but I ended up just blurting it out.”

Donna St John, the Ward Manager of Oswald Ward, where Andrew was staying when he proposed, said: “It was such a change to the usual requests you get from our tumour patients.

“Most of the time it’s usual stuff like helping them or getting them a cup of tea. But when he told the team he wanted to propose they leapt into action!

“We were all a little bit nervous because what if she said no? Luckily she agreed and they will hopefully have a fantastic life as husband and wife.”

Andrew and Selina met in May 2016. He said: “We met through a website and from the moment I met her and looked into her eyes I knew she was the one.

“She didn’t believe me until a little bit later. I could see our future in her eyes and it’s been perfect. It feels like we’ve been together forever and we’ve been through a lot.”