A happy couple who first met seven years ago when they both awoke from comas got engaged inside the same hospital where they were treated as teenagers.
Zach Zarembinski popped the question to Isabelle Richard inside Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the couple were patients after their injuries in 2018, according to Kare11.
“Will you marry me?” he asked in front of dozens of hospital staffers and relatives, according to the podcast posted to YouTube.
“Yes,” Richard responded as the white backdrop they were sitting in front of came down to reveal a massive heart made out of flowers surrounding the words “Will you marry me?”
Zarembinski tricked his future bride into returning to the hospital, claiming he got permission to record an episode of their podcast “Hope in Healing.”
“This is a very honor to be here. We are allowed to record this podcast in Regions Hospital where all the nurses and doctors took care of us and it’s just bringing tears to my eye to be able to come here and see this,” Zarembinski said.
Before proposing, Zarembinski got his now-fiancée to stand up as he pointed to the area where he first met Richard’s family in November 2018 after he woke from his coma.
The then-18-year-old suffered a brain bleed and collapsed on the sidelines of a high school football game on Oct. 28, 2018.
He was rushed to Regions Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma as doctors performed a craniotomy to remove the left side of his skull to allow his brain to swell, MPRNews reported at the time.
The senior lineman responded well to the surgery, was stabilized and woke up nine days later.
Around the same time, 16-year-old Richard was on her way to work at a grocery store when she was involved in a car crash and suffered a massive head injury, Kare11 reported.
She remained in a coma as news crews converged on the hospital for a press conference after Zarembinski woke up.
Richard’s mother, Esther Wilzbacher, spoke with Zarembinski and he told her that she was going to be alright.
The 16-year-old woke up days later and eventually the two young patients met, talking for a few minutes and taking a picture, as Richard sat in her hospital bed.
“Said a couple kind words to Isabelle and that was it for six years,” Zarembinski said, according to the outlet.
Wilzbacher and Zarembinski’s mom, Tracy, remained in touch as their children recovered, only meeting up in 2024 for dinner between the two families.
During the meal, Zarembinski asked Richard for her number and the two began dating.
Besides the shared trauma, the two had from their hospital stints, there were “practical considerations” for them to marry, as they both had parts of their skulls removed to relieve swelling.
“It’s opposite sides of our brain,” Richard told Kare11. “So, it’s kind of like we complement each other in that way. Things that I’m bad at, he’s good at.”
The lovebird’s parents were excited for the engagement, but wouldn’t take credit for getting their children together.
“We’re just blessed to have a front row to their miracle,” Wilzbacher said.
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