AN UNLUCKY break has landed a local couple in the history books at the Coffs Harbour Health Campus.

On Saturday the hospital hosted only the second wedding since it opened more than a decade ago, and despite a rollercoaster lead-up to the ceremony, the nuptials went off without a hitch.

The wedding plans of Erin Singleton and Ferando Caceda Manrique were thrown into chaos on Thursday when a skateboarding accident left the groom with compound fractures of his fibia and tibia.

After lengthy surgery on Friday, the wedding, planned for the Bonville Anglican Church, was alternatively off and on, and then off again.

On Saturday morning doctors ruled the groom couldn’t leave the hospital, and with guests arriving from Peru, New Zealand, Perth, Brisbane, Leeton and western Queensland, the hospital courtyard was the only option.

“I can’t thank the staff at the hospital enough for doing all they did to make the wedding happen,” the now Mrs Caceda said.

“Also a big thank-you to Rev Sally Miller and my bridesmaids and especially my cousin Alina, who did an amazing job getting the wedding back on track.”

The ceremony was witnessed by nursing ward staff and other patients and after Fernando was returned to the surgical ward the official guests moved on to Sawtell for a groom-less reception.

“It wasn’t my ideal wedding, but thanks to the support of so many it proved more memorable than we could have ever imagined,” Mrs Caceda said.