Fort Worth hospital staff organizes patient's impromptu wedding
Mar 24, 2025
Caregivers at a hospital in Fort Worth went above and beyond to help a patient have an unforgettable day.
When they learned he wanted to marry his fiancee right there at the hospital, they did something good.
Anthony Cross was just four days removed from kidney transplant surgery when he and h
is fiancee Cynthia McIntosh tied the knot.
Cross had been on dialysis when finally on March 6th, he got the new kidney he’d waited for for five years.
While recovering at Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth, he decided he didn’t want to put off marrying the woman he loved.
“I was just tired of waiting, and I didn’t want to wait that long,” Cross said in a news release. “I love the woman. Cynthia has been really supportive of me and everything I’ve been going through.”
They thought the chaplain could marry them in the hospital room but Cross’ caregivers said, no way!
They organized an impromptu wedding, and on March 19th, Anthony and Cynthia said their “I do’s” and became husband and wife.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing that we can take part in this,” said Eric Siskind, M.D., surgical director of the Kidney Transplant Program at Texas Health Fort Worth. “It teaches us that every day is precious and that’s why we do kidney transplants. So that patients can live longer and healthier lives and be healthy to achieve all of the goals that they want – to foster the relationships that are important to them … to spend time with the families that are important to them. We’re happy to be a part of it, and it’s truly a miraculous occurrence.”
Cross said organ donation whether given after death like his donor or while living is important and he urged those with the means and the heart to consider it. Learn more about becoming a kidney donor here.
“You can save someone’s life, and I am so appreciative to whomever I got this kidney from,” Cross said. “I really thank God for this opportunity and receiving this gift, because I wasn’t sure how long it would be.”
His new kidney will help Cross, a member of Circle L Five Riding Club – the oldest Black riding club in Texas – get back in the saddle again.
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