A Sydney wedding has gone viral after the reception was interrupted by Police Rescue, called in to cut off the groom’s wedding ring.
The incident happened on Saturday 5 September at 20 Chapel in Marrickville, at the wedding reception of Rod Fitzgerald and Erik Litonjua.
Video posted after the event shows Police Rescue successfully cutting the ring off of Rod’s fingers that had got stuck during the ceremony.
Erik told Gay Sydney Daily that the pair had identical rings, and Rod had accidentally put on the wrong one at the ceremony.
The swap stemmed from a photo shoot the day before where after the shoot, the rings were put into the wrong boxes.
“I grabbed one of the rings and put it on my finger, and I thought, ‘okay, this is the one that fits me, so I’ll put it in my box’. Then I grabbed the box that said ‘give to Erik,’ and that’s where I put it,” he said.
“I forgot, though, that box was going to be given to me, and I was going to put that ring onto Rod’s finger.”
The pair exchanged vows at the wedding, with the ring sliding easily onto Erik’s finger before getting stuck on Rod’s.
“Because of the pressure of it being in the middle of the ceremony, with everybody watching, this was the biggest part of everything and neither of us thought, ‘hang on, maybe we’ve swapped the rings,'” said Erik.
“We just pushed and pushed until the ring went over the knuckle and onto Rod’s finger.”
On the way to the reception, Rod noticed his finger was throbbing, but it wasn’t until later in the night that he realised he needed to get it off.
“It was taking me away from this event that we’d planned for 18 months,” said Rod.
Rod, with the help of his friends, tried butter, ice, holding his hand above his head, and a ribbon.
Eventually a friend told Rod the ring had to come off immediately, or he could lose the finger.
“Well, I couldn’t leave my wedding. It was only 8 o’clock, and she rang Newtown Police Station and was incredibly persistent, because they originally wanted me to go to the emergency department.”
She succeeded, a Police Rescue van arrived 15 minutes later and got to work.
“While the ring was being cut off, our DJ played the song ‘Rescue Me,’ which has become the background song of the video. I’m holding my menu against Rod’s head, it’s just such a funny look,” said Erik. “As I say, it’s like from Grindr to grinder.”
The love story began back in 2021, when Rod went down to Wagga for a birthday.
“We met on Grindr, actually, I went down to a place called Junee, near Wagga, for a 50th birthday, and I was kind of dragged along,”said Rod.
“It was a great party, and the day after, I thought I’d jump online and see who might be around, and I connected with Erik.”
It was a lucky meeting, as Erik was due to leave Wagga to move to Adelaide the next day. Because of COVID, the pair maintained a long-distance relationship until the borders reopened.
Fast forward a few years, and the pair got engaged on Hamilton Island last year, where Rod was working.
“Erik works in the medical device field, and he was updating me on the latest happenings in the medical world. We’re sitting there, and he goes, ‘Rod, I was reading a medical journal article about what happens in the brain when the heart stops,'” said Rod.
“You know, in the seven minutes that takes place when the heart stops, the first minute is about your childhood, the second is about your teenage years, your life flashing before your eyes and he goes, ‘but for me, I want every one of those seven minutes to be of you and me together.'”
Rod said yes, and the pair began working towards their wedding, which took place last weekend and resulted in an unforgettable evening.
“We never thought it would be this memorable… no one will ever forget this wedding,” said Rod.
The pair thanked their friends and the police for their support in getting the ring off.
As for the rings themselves, the couple already have a plan to visit their jeweller tomorrow to have it replaced.
