Couple marries at Duke University Hospital amid battle with heart disease

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Sarah Myler and Jeffrey Benesch's love story began nine years ago over coffee.

Now they're newlyweds--newlyweds who tied the knot at Duke University Hospital because Benesch's time is limited.

"His nurses were fabulous, being there and taking care of him for us," Myler said. "Bringing him out into the garden so that I could walk up to him in the garden. And the hospital got us a classical guitar player from their arts staff. It's not a lot of time at this point, because his heart is so weak. So I'm spending every day I can with him."

Benesch is being treated for heart disease.

"Time with him right now is what's important. The memory of our wedding...was the biggest thing that we wanted, and the hospital and my family made that happen in a heartbeat," Myler said.

The couple is from Martinsville, but Myler now sleeps each night in the hospital with her husband.

"We had our honeymoon night here at the hospital. My sister had dinner delivered for us so we had a nice fancy dinner that night," she recalled with her eyes suggesting an ear-to-ear smile behind her mask. "We have a 'just married' sign on our door, a 'please do not disturb' sign the nurses put up for us."

Relatives who couldn't be at the wedding due to COVID-19 restrictions, have been able to stay in touch through Zoom.

"He's still fighting, I'm still fighting, and we're going to fight until the very end. We definitely need all the prayers we can muster at this point.'

Her sister's set up a GoFundMe page to help out, since she resigned her job in Martinsville to be with her husband.