Member-only story
A dramatic wedding — when joy and grief collide
An unexpected tragic event reveals the essence of decision making
On a cloudy September day in 1989, in the Welsh coastal village of Bishopston, Tim Sullivan — who would later become known as a screen writer and director, and author of crime books — had just got married. He and his bride exited the small medieval church of St Teilo’s, followed by their guests, ready to climb the hill to his in-laws’ house for the celebration when suddenly his father collapsed. He managed to catch his him before he hit the ground and gave him CPR, but shortly after, his father died in his arms, of a heart attack.
And after he returned from accompanying the body to the hospital morgue, the reception and party went on as planned.
When he retold the story recently in a radio show, he was asked whether there had been a moment where he had considered calling the whole thing off. No, he replied emphatically, “My father would have been appalled if we hadn’t carried on.” Of all the ways in which a wedding can be disrupted, surely the sudden death of a parent would be the one situation in which the immediate cancellation would seem to be appropriate, and questioned by nobody. Yet everything went ahead. Isn’t that odd?
