After being a couple for more than 30 years, Wendell Scraders and sweetheart Carol Anne Perinchief finally got married in the unlikely surroundings of the Lahey Clinic’s oncology department.Cancer patient Mr Scraders and his new wife were surrounded by their adopted family of doctors, nurses and hospital staff for their romantic ceremony last Friday.The wedding, at the hospital where the 60-year-old has been undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer, came just two days after the couple decided to get married.“It’s just beautiful, I couldn’t put it into words. The people here are absolutely gorgeous,” the new Mrs Scraders, 52, said in a brief video for the Burlington Patch.Asked why he had taken so long to propose, Mr Scraders replied: “I ain’t got no answer.”The Lahey Clinic does not normally allow weddings, but made an exception for the happy couple and arranged for the ceremony to be conducted by chaplain Reverend Heather Minton, a minister with the United Church of Christ.The bride was escorted down a hospital hallway by staff members before meeting her new husband in the hospital’s chapel.Rev Hinton said during the ceremony: “Even as they are far removed from their families in Bermuda, they have discovered here an adopted family, an adopted community, that wants to celebrate their hope for their future and their love for one another.“It’s a beautiful thing and a testament to the love you have for one another that so many people you have just met want to be here to celebrate with you.”Angela Tambini, chief therapist for the oncology department, said: “We saw the first wedding in the radiation/oncology department that people who have been in the field for 30 years have never seen before.”Ms Tambini said once the couple had decided to get married, hospital staff began to look for a venue.“When we looked around and started talking about it, we thought it might be better to have it here, so that everyone who’s available here could be part of it,” she said.Among the host of Royal Gazette readers paying congratulations on our Facebook page yesterday was Deb Bell, who said: “That is a wonderful testament to LOVE. How many of us would have been around that long before the nuptials.“I pray that they will have many wonderful years together. So touching it made me cry. I am not surprised about the folks at Lahey; my experience, though short was that they are a very loving and caring group of professionals.”* To watch a video of the wedding go to http://burlington.patch.com/articles/video-cancer-patient-weds-girlfriend-of-30-years-at-lahey-clinic#video-9005536