Traditional wedding vows include the words “in sickness and in health,” but one noble gentleman began honoring those promises before ever actually proposing to the woman of his dreams.
That man is Nick Baldo, and, as the expression goes, he is one very good man in a storm!
Nick, an Illinois native, living in San Francisco, met Viktoria Cupay when she was visiting The Golden City. Viktoria asked Nick to dance when out one evening, and he asked for her number.
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Viktoria explained that she was actually from Chicago and in town for just a short time. But when she learned that he had roots there as well, she agreed to share her digits! The two began a long-distance relationship.
Viktoria has the autoimmune disease lupus, and she experiences related flare-ups from time to time. So, when she developed a high fever in 2019, she first thought it was connected to her lupus diagnosis.
However, Viktoria did not get better, and her mother took her to the hospital. She was 23 years old at that time, and she was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and the more serious form of SJS known as toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Viktoria quickly became extremely sick.
@justviktoria03 #recovery #inspirational ♬ original sound - 𝙇𝙭𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙯 🫶
SJS/TEN is rare, impacting only 5,000 people in the United States. Caused by an allergic reaction to medication, SJS/TEN causes the skin to blister, die, and detach, and it is very painful. Viktoria was admitted to the burn ICU, and she spent the next month in a medically-induced coma.
Nick chose to stand by Viktoria in sickness and in health. He moved from San Francisco to be by Viktoria’s side during the ordeal, which only began with the coma.
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While asleep, Viktoria was able to breathe and eat with the help of a tracheostomy and a gastrostomy tube, but she lost her hair and became horribly thin and weak. The real work began when she was brought out of the coma to face a lengthy recovery!
However, before beginning the work of getting well, Nick had one equally critical matter to attend to. With permission from Viktoria’s mother and his grandmother’s ring on hand, he asked Viktoria to marry him. Too weak to respond with words, Viktoria offered her hand and nodded “yes”!
As she said in the caption of one of her TikTok videos, "The right person will make no excuses and will choose to love you even at your worst."
@justviktoria03 Exactly a year ago our proposal video went viral! Now, we are married!!!! ⚠️
♬ original sound - Viktoria
Viktoria spent 240 days in the hospital. Of that arduous journey, she recalls “I was 23 at that time. At that age, you would think that you would be living your best life but no, I was learning how to walk and talk and eat again. There were moments where I just wanted to give up. But I had the best support system, and I owe them my recovery.”
Viktoria couldn’t believe how she looked when she came out of the coma, and she felt “honored” that Nick would stay with her through sickness and in health. But Nick may not view himself as chivalrous. Exactly three years after that critical question was asked and answered, Nick and Viktoria were married on August 19, 2022!
They make a beautiful, strong, and loving couple!
An advocate for people with lupus and SJS/TEN, Viktoria shares her struggles with others coping with chronic illnesses. She appreciates every day of the life she now has, sharing “Looking back at it, it’s crazy how far I’ve come. I’m in awe as well. That’s why I want to share my story because I have been there, I have been at the lowest point in my life, and I’m hoping that when someone hears this story, that it might be the story that they needed to hear to keep going as well.”
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Congratulations to Viktoria and Nick!
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45
h/t: InspireMore
Featured Image Credit: Youtube/Good Morning America
Hally is a freelance writer, blogger, and mental health advocate. A former school counselor, Hally works for a nonprofit that distributes tax dollars to mental health and prevention education providers that serve her county's kids and families. She's a contributor to a devotional and two essay collectives, and she shares resources and wisdom regarding parenting teens, mental health, faith, adoption, and more at http://www.hallyjwells.com where she strives to "Dig Deep and Reach High." She and her husband have three adult children and one rascally beagle pup. Hally loves travel, her book club sisters, personality tests, and a great glass of iced tea.