Bride Sarah Wintrip Had an Emergency on Her Wedding Day That Left Her 'Hours from Death'

After years of planning her special wedding day in Jamaica, one woman gathered her friends, and they flew there. However, they didn't expect the bride to be in excruciating pain throughout the event, ending up needing urgent medical care.

What was meant to be her international wedding celebration turned into a nightmare when Sarah Wintrip faced a life-threatening ordeal. Flying to her wedding destination triggered a condition that almost cost her life.

While traveling to Jamaica for her wedding, Sarah began experiencing sharp groin pain but chose to ignore it. She explained, "I knew something was up but I didn't want to say anything because I'm not one to complain about pain and I didn't want to ruin the day. [sic]"

"It was two years' worth of planning," she said, explaining her reason for pushing forward. Even though her friends reassured her that it was probably a gym-related strain, she hadn't been to one in seven months and simply laughed it off. Unfortunately, the pain worsened as her wedding date approached.

On her wedding day, May 17, 2025, Sarah, from Chelmsford, Essex, felt a sudden, intense pull and nearly fainted. Despite the increasing agony, she stayed silent, stating, "I just wanted to have a good time," but even skipped her first dance.

That night, the marketing chief executive noticed a hot, visible lump on her leg and experienced fever dreams and delirium. She refused medical treatment abroad, believing she might not survive there, and insisted on returning to England, explaining, "I wanted to see my children again."

By the time of her flight home on May 20, she was in critical condition. She recalled, "I was two hours from death and if she hadn't given me those antibiotics, I would've died," referring to a friend who provided her antibiotics mid-flight.

After landing, paramedics rushed her to the hospital, where doctors discovered a large four-by-two-centimeter cyst, approximately 1.6-by-0.8-inch, inside an abscess in her groin. The cyst had ruptured due to air pressure, and she required emergency surgery to remove the infection leaking into her bloodstream.

Her wound was left open to heal gradually to avoid reinfection. Sarah described waking from surgery in intense pain, suffering vision loss, and numbness in her limbs. Still recovering, she couldn't see her children and now warns others to trust their instincts and seek immediate medical attention when something feels wrong.

About two or three days after returning to England, Sarah and her husband, Luke Wintrip, 36, began uploading several videos and images from their wedding day. An Instagram post taken in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, showed her dressed in a stunning black gown, being swept off her feet, bent over, and kissed by Luke.

The groom wore a black shirt and brown pants to match his wife's look. The couple was also captured exiting the wedding venue and posing with their entire wedding party on a deck by the ocean.

The Wintrips were also seen wearing sunglasses while posing together. Sarah captioned the post, "Mr and Mrs Wintrip. Finally. Let's hope we really can commit to those 'better and worse' vows after the rocky start we have had. I love you babe xx. [sic]"

On the same day the post went up, Sarah shared a clip that showed how everything wasn't bad on her wedding day. She uploaded footage revealing a special moment that happened during her ceremony.

Despite being in pain, the bride appeared happy as she prepared to throw her bouquet to announce the next lucky woman to marry. However, instead of throwing it behind her as tradition dictates, Sarah turned back around and walked up to her best friend, and handed the bouquet over before kissing and hugging her.

The bride then turned her friend around to reveal the friend's boyfriend, who was one of the best men, kneeling with an engagement ring right behind. The clip concluded with Sarah's friend accepting the proposal and hugging her new fiancé.

Luke's wife wrote in the caption, "As if marrying my best friend in Jamaica wasn't enough, I had the absolute privilege of being part of the engagement of two of my closest." She revealed that when her friend's boyfriend expressed his desire to propose, he asked them not to tell anyone, prompting them to wonder how he would do it.

Together, they came up with the plan to let him propose during the Wintrips' wedding in Jamaica. Sarah shared, "Nearly a year of keeping this secret was worth it. Surrounded by the best tribe ever, who love you unconditionally, and all that joy as the title of fiancee [sic] is handed from us directly to two people we adore. It literally couldn't have been better."

By May 28, Sarah was already back home and took to Instagram to share her appreciation for her friends. Set to Sister Sledge's "We Are Family," the video included footage of her in the hospital and recovering at home with the help of her friends.

Her pals were seen cooking, taking care of her children, giving her gifts, cleaning, making her tea, cooking, watering her garden, and more as she recovered. Sarah wrote over the post, "I never really understood what the phrase 'it takes a village' meant until last week — both being in hospital and the time that followed."

She captioned the post, "You know you've got good friends, it doesn't escape you day to day, but the last three weeks, from having 30 friends fly to Jamaica with us to see us get married, to the ENDLESS support we have received since we have been home, on the phone and in person and every which way you can imagine — I'm overwhelmed."

Going from being close to death to now recovering, the 38-year-old revealed she and her new husband never experienced the "kind of tribe we are lucky enough to have." Sarah said she'd do the same for her friends but noted, "Having it back is humbling."

"Luke and I love each and every one of you, give us a couple of months and scope HQ will be open for bizzznesss [sic]," she concluded.

Despite facing unimaginable challenges, Sarah turned her harrowing experience into a celebration of resilience and gratitude. Her story stands as a testament to the strength of friendship and the importance of trusting one's instincts.