A change of heart — literally — moved this couple to renew their wedding vows
CBC
Bonita and Dex Pelley stand in Bridie Molloy's, a lively pub in downtown St. John's, wearing a wedding dress and a suit. These are the same outfits they wore 24 years ago, the first time they said, "I do."
Now they're doing it all again, but this time, with a change of heart.
"He proposed to me before the transplant and he said, 'If I get through this, marry me again,'" Bonita Pelley told CBC News at the ceremony. "And here we are, and this is 24 years later and we are so grateful."
Surrounded by friends and family, the couple are celebrating not just a long and happy marriage, but a recent heart transplant that saved Dex's life.
A genetic disease called ARVC, or arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, runs in Dex's family.
His mother and sister both passed away due to the condition, and his brother and another sister have been diagnosed as well.
"I guess there are a lot of people out there who don't realize they have a genetic problem," Dex said. "I was fortunate that they found it 10 years before I had any symptoms and they put a defibrillator in me.
"The first time I had the arrest, I didn't even know I had it."
Dex explains that his symptoms started small; the first time he had a cardiac arrest, he didn't know what exactly has happened until he got a call from the hospital three days later.
"Basicially, it's the gene, tells the heart to stop," Dex said.
A few weeks after the vow renewal, he and Bonita sit down in their living room with CBC News to tell their full story. A fireplace crackles near them in their new home that's decked out in Christmas decorations.
It's been a year since Dex got his new heart, a journey that was many years in the making.
Now, the Pelleys find reasons to celebrate every day.
"This Christmas is like, wow, I feel like I'm a little 10-year-old again," said Bonita, as she holds Dex's hand. "Just, you know, to have our Christmas again."
In Texas this week for a global energy conference, the federal natural resources minister is proclaiming "Canada is back" and ready to bolster its energy sector and grow exports.
Members of Parliament last year went on the fewest sponsored international trips in the last 15 years, excluding the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontario is running out of time to beef up rules that would crack down on negligent and misbehaving municipal politicians ahead of the next civic election, some experts and opposition critics warn.
Six London teens are each facing multiple charges following a break-and-enter spree at homes in the city's southwest end early Sunday, police said.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is putting the finishing touches on completing the Team Gushue Highway, but it means drivers might have to change their routes until later this summer.
Passage of the Nova Scotia government's budget bill stalled late Tuesday night when a group of singing protesters shut down the final vote to approve the budget.
Health Minister John Dornan said Woodstock-based eVisitNB will continue to provide virtual health-care services to New Brunswickers for another 90 days after March 31.
The head of Canada's largest airline has been summoned to Ottawa to explain why he spoke only in English when he offered his condolences to the families of those killed or hurt in the collision between a plane and a fire truck at a New York City airport on Sunday.
Manitoba is bucking a national trend by promising to slash its deficit, while boosting health care spending by nearly $1 billion and delivering modest affordability measures, including a PST cut that will save you money next time you buy a soda and bag of chips.
Premier Scott Moe has said there are no "cancellations or delays" to school projects as a result of the provincial budget introduced last week.
An 18-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in a deadly daytime shooting on a highway south of Edmonton.
More than a month after the deadly mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, stories of bravery during the tragedy are being shared.
Just over six months after the University of Prince Edward Island's medical program began, the dean of the faculty says things are “going wonderfully.”