Just magic

A SINGER who underwent a kidney transplant last year that saved his life was in tears as he wed his fiancée.

Adam Isaac, 40, and Lucy Rutland, 30, were married at St Nicholas Church in Remenham in front of immediate family, six of their close friends and the man who saved the groom’s life by donating a kidney.

The couple, who live in Sonning Common, have been together for six years.

Adam proposed while the couple were in Rome in September but they didn’t want to reveal their plans publicly until after his successful surgery in November.

Since then he has worked his way back to full fitness and has been performing again.

Saturday’s wedding ceremony was an intimate and emotional occasion as Lucy walked down the aisle at the church where her late father Jim is buried to the sound of her sister Kat Green singing Ave Maria.

She was accompanied by her eldest niece Millie Green, 11, and met by her three brothers, Peter, Simon and Thomas, who formally gave her away.

Her mother Felicity, who lives in Remenham, said: “There was not a dry eye in the church.” Katy Isaac, the groom’s sister, said: “There were a few emotional moments in the church, especially for Adam, during the vows and the exchanging of the rings. The vicar said, ‘…through sickness and in health…’ Well, that truly did resonate with the couple and Adam just broke down.

“They have been through hell and back and deserved to have a wonderful day surrounded by their loved ones.”

Donor Jimmy Carpenter, who used to play in band with Adam, said: “I am not an emotional person but I had a lump in my throat.”

The couple were married by Canon Martyn Griffiths, the former rector of Henley with Remenham who retired in 2018. He was keeping a promise he made to the bride when she was a teenager.

After the ceremony, the couple were taken by boat up the river to Shiplake College for their reception, which was attended by 196 people. They waved to the waiting guests as the boat neared.

Adam, who reached the quarter finals of ITV’s The Voice in 2012 and performed at the Henley Festival two years in a row, received his new kidney in an operation at University Hospital Coventry and Warwick in November.

He had been undergoing dialysis for 19 months after being diagnosed in December 2020 with Berger’s disease, where an antibody builds up in the kidneys and blocks them. He began dialysis three months later.

Adam and Mr Carpenter had played together in a band about 20 years ago but had not seen each for about 15 when they were reunited. Adam had shared a video on social media to let his followers know that he didn’t have a donor.

When Mr Carpenter, 40, from Exeter, found out his friend was unwell he offered to help.

Mr Carpenter said: “We had grown apart, as people do when moving away, and when we were reunited I didn’t know what to expect.

“But it was so much more natural than I thought it would be and you wouldn’t know that we had been apart for so many years.

“My life has carried on as normal since I donated my kidney but Adam doesn’t let me forget how much I have changed his life. We talk every day on the phone. It has been really nice to get that friendship back — he always puts a kiss on the end of each message.

“He was in pieces at the ceremony, so I called him a big baby and gave him a hug.”

Mrs Rutland, a deputy lieutenant of Berkshire, said: “Adam is so busy now with gigs, he actually had to cancel a gig to get married.

“It is so enthralling so see him back to himself, busier than ever.

“I remember last year when I was at church and Adam was ringing me, which was not unusual.

“The two of them were away in Rome for a couple of days as Adam had a gig there.

“As I picked up the phone, Adam said, ‘I wanted to ask your permission to marry your daughter’. Of course I was overjoyed. They have been through a lot together and are a perfect couple in my eyes so I was so happy.”

Mrs Rutland said the wedding day had been emotional and “a celebration of the strength between them”.

Alex Nearchou, a friend of Lucy’s who had organised her hen do, said: “She has been so relaxed about the whole thing — after what they have gone through, planning a wedding was a walk in the park.

“She had always known exactly what she wanted for a wedding, so it all came so naturally to her.

“The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, so intimate and exclusive. The couple had thought about everything for the day — Lucy even hand painted all the name cards on the tables at the reception.”

Adam said: “It has been so special. It was meant to rain all day but we’ve had blue skies. It’s like a testament to us both, I think.”

The bride said: “Our relationship pre-transplant was strong but now we are so solid. It has been the little insignificant moments along the way that have made us stronger.

“Today is just magic, it is all I have ever dreamed of.

“My late dad’s sister, Aunty Jan, came to the ceremony, which meant a lot to me, and obviously Jimmy attending was so important to Adam.”

The couple will take their honeymoon in Japan next year.