COVID-19 vaccine appointment turns into surprise marriage proposal
Gay paramedic and registered nurse become engaged at South Dakota medical center
By Riley Gillis
on
January 8, 2021
Robbie Vargas-Cortes proposing to Eric Vanderlee – Photo: CNN.
In a welcome display of love following a particularly depressing year, a COVID-19 vaccine appointment turned into a surprise marriage proposal.
As a frontline medical worker, Robbie Vargas-Cortes, 31, a paramedic and EMS supervisor, was among the first group of people to receive vaccinations against COVID-19. When he scheduled himself to receive the first dose of the vaccine on Dec. 23 at Sanford Canton-Inwood Medical Center, he knew his boyfriend of five years, Eric Vanderlee, a registered nurse, would be one of those administering the vaccine.