After Coronavirus Thwarts Wedding, 2 NYC Nurses Say 'I Do' On TV

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — After the coronavirus pandemic thwarted the wedding plans of two New York City nurses, NBC found a venue where the couple's loved ones could still watch them tie the knot: live television.

Vanessa Baral, a float nurse at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, and Herwyn Silva, a nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital, were married June 25 on NBC's Today Show by host Hoda Kotb, who is also an ordained minister.

The couple's colleagues hosted watch parties at each of their hospitals to cheer them on.

Baral, 27, called it a surreal experience.

"We're still processing it," she told Patch in a phone interview. "We've been together for so long, but we just felt like we grew even closer."

Right before the Astoria couple vowed to take care of each other "in sickness and in health," the spread of the new coronavirus forced them to do just that.

Baral, who was caring almost exclusively for COVID-19 patients as the pandemic hit its peak, contracted the virus at the start of April. She isolated herself for two weeks as she dealt with shortness of breath, fatigue and a host of other symptoms.

To avoid catching the virus himself, Silva cared for his fiancée from afar, checking in via FaceTime to make sure she was staying hydrated and monitoring her oxygen levels.

It was an experience that brought the couple together, and Baral says it's helped her better care for her COVID-19 patients.

"Patients would tell me how they were feeling, and I knew what they were going through," she said.

The televised ceremony wasn't the couple's only surprise: NBC will send them to Fiji next year for their honeymoon.