Lovebirds had to wait, because combating epidemic could not

Her wedding day is one of the most memorable days in a woman's life, and every bride dreams of a perfect, flawless event.

But for Chen Ying, a nurse from Yiwu, Zhejiang province, love could wait-because the war against the novel coronavirus could not.

Chen, 24, married her fiance, Huang Qianrui, at a registry office on March 20 after the event was postponed for more than a month due to the outbreak.

A photo of Chen and her fiance kissing through the glass of an isolation ward at the hospital where she works while wearing masks on Feb 4 moved many people after it was published, and Chen received lots of congratulatory messages from Chinese netizens after their marriage.

A novice nurse who just started work last year, Chen was the youngest medical worker assigned to treating patients infected with the virus at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Yiwu.

On Jan 25, Lunar New Year's Day, she was urgently summoned by the hospital to attend a training course on nursing and caring for patients with novel coronavirus infections.

Chen didn't realize that an uphill battle was awaiting them.

"I was quite relaxed at that time, because I was a greenhorn and I didn't think that I would be assigned to confront the virus directly," she said.

However, when told she was among the first group of nurses assigned to work in isolation wards at the hospital to look after infected patients, Chen quickly got settled and put her heart into the battle against the novel coronavirus.

"I chose to be a nurse and should step forward boldly during this special period," she said.

The task turned out to be tougher than Chen had imagined. She had to wear a mask, goggles and a protective suit before entering the wards.

"It felt like I was taking a sauna, and it was far more strenuous to complete my daily work routine wearing this suit," she said.

Deep imprints were left on Chen's face every time she removed the mask and goggles after a day's work, which upset her fiance. He went to see Chen on Feb 4, but they could only see each other through the glass of the ward. They had planned to marry at the civil affairs bureau on Feb 14, Valentine's Day, but had to postpone the date due to the ongoing epidemic.

They agreed to marry as soon as Chen fulfilled her duties. They met and hugged each other on March 10, when Chen's two-week isolation observation ended, and registered their marriage on March 20.

"I'm married to a big hero," Huang said.

But Chen said she was just an ordinary girl.

"I'm just one of the thousands of medical workers in the fight against the novel coronavirus, and my story is one of the ordinary stories that happened among my peers," she said.

Qin Jirong contributed to this story.