This is the emotional moment a great-grandfather burst into tears when his wife surprised him at a care home – after being away from her for three months due to them both being in hospital at different times.
A heartwarming video shows Malcolm Wareing, 92, sobbing uncontrollably before telling his wife of 69 years Edna, 89: ‘I’ve missed you’ as the pair go on to share a sweet kiss.
The former cast molten moulder had been pleading with staff at Chapel Lodge Care home, in Burnley, Lancashire, for months to ‘promise’ that they would bring his wife of 69 years to be with him.
Unbeknownst to Malcolm, the workers began secretly planning Edna’s move into the home, and worked ‘very hard’ to keep the news top secret.
The video opened up with Malcolm sitting alone in the care home with just a mug of tea.
Clearly already missing his wife, he said: ‘I’m sorry to upset everybody’.
At that exact moment, his beloved Edna is wheeled in behind him and she neared the table, he shouted out ‘oooohhh’ in surprise.
He then burst into a flood of tears while his wife yelled ‘come here’ and reached over to him for a big hug.
As the tears continued to flow, Edna tried her best to pet her husband, but it was to no avail as the tissue could barely contain his sobs.
He could be seen using the paper to brush away his tears as his wife sat beside him in a wheelchair.
Care home manager Kathy Crossley, 58, who oversaw the plan said she’d never seen anything like it: ‘It’s a true love story’ she said.
‘With all my years working in care, since I was 18, I have never ever experienced anything like it in my life. I can’t stop thinking about it.
‘Me and his family set it up. It was very, very hard keeping the secret.
‘It was fantastic, it was so emotional. We were just all crying – the family and me and my staff – we were sobbing, we just couldn’t believe it’.
During the precious moment, one of the carers asked Malcolm what his favourite song was.
He replied: ‘I still remember the very first song that I bought my wife ‘Here in My Heart’ by Al Martino’.
Kathy continued: ‘We played that, and we were all crying before she even came.
‘We could just see the love and how much he had missed her and how much it meant to him. It was beautiful’.
Staff at the care home said they had made plans weeks ago to bring the pair back together after they had spent three months apart.
And on the day, they were initially left in tears when Malcolm asked for the first song he bought for her, ‘Here in My Heart’ by Al Martino, to be played on their speakers.
Kathy said: ‘He was sat in the lounge with the staff at dinner time, and he was doing his exercises, and we just started talking about his wife.
‘He kept saying to me, because I’m the manager, ‘You will promise me, won’t you? You will try and get her in, won’t you’.
‘I kept saying, “Yeah, I promise, I really, really promise”.
‘I said I’ll even pinky promise you. So we got our fingers together and did a little pinky promise.
‘But I knew she was coming in, otherwise I wouldn’t have said that. It was very emotional’.
The video ended with the pair in high spirits as they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
