'My £45k wedding was ruined after husband did the most stupid thing'

One bride's took a turn for the worse after her husband-to-be nearly died following an at their lavish Greek destination ceremony.

Robyn Stanley heard the sound of laughter echoing through the stone corridors of her just two days before her wedding as her fiancé and his groomsmen returned from an evening of food and drinks on the Greek island. She was surrounded by her bridesmaids, with their £45,000 just days away.

But then she noticed something was terribly wrong. The groomsmen who were winding down from a fun night suddenly looked pale and shaken.

READ MORE:

"I just started screaming," Robyn recalls. "It was an out-of-body experience. He was a few feet from getting home [to the hotel]. There was a small wall, and over the wall was a sheer drop. We'd all made jokes about how dangerous we thought it was."

Her partner of 18 years, Jake Elliot, had slipped and plummeted more than 100 feet into the darkness below.

The 41-year-old climbed onto the wall to let some passersby through on May 25, 2023. But he misjudged his footing and lost his balance.

The senior construction manager, from Folkestone, said: "I remember falling and trying to grab the cliff on the way down. I could hear one of my groomsmen shouting 'Jake'. I remember trying to shout back, but I couldn't. When I feel,l it collapsed my lung."

While paramedics scrambled to locate him on the rocky terrain below, Robyn was left pacing the hotel, thinking her husband-to-be had died.

It wasn’t until she reached Santorini Hospital that she finally saw him - bruised with broken bones but miraculously conscious.

At first, the couple clung to a fragile hope that the wedding might still happen. Jake, ever determined, joked that he could be wheeled down the aisle in a chair.

But that hope quickly dissolved when scans revealed a ruptured spleen, among other serious injuries. "I remember being gutted [that we couldn't get married]. It was the silliest thing to happen before our wedding day."

52 of their closest friends and family had flown out for the wedding, and they had their two children with them - Cannon, 11, and Cass, eight. But upon the news of Jake's fall, everyone flew home.

Jake said: "Once I realised the wedding wasn't going to happen, the guilt kicked in. I was blessed I hadn't died, but I had ruined the wedding."

The following day, Jake was flown to a hospital in Athens for specialist care. Robyn stayed by his side as he underwent emergency surgery, including the insertion of lung drains to help him breathe.

His injuries were extensive: a broken back, broken ribs, and a shattered left leg. Later, once back in the UK, it was discovered that his right ankle had also been crushed. Bolts were inserted to repair it.

After returning to the UK in June 2023, he was cleared to fly back to England. Nine more days in hospital followed before he was finally allowed home, where he began the long, painful journey of rehabilitation.

But just three months after the fall, he was back at work, even as he continued intensive physiotherapy. In October 2023, the couple returned to Santorini together, alone.

Robyn said: "Me and Jake went back on our own for four days in October. We didn't want the first time we went back to be the wedding. We put the demons to rest."

With help from their original venue and vendors, they were able to reschedule the wedding for June 5, 2024 - though the delay added another £15,000 to the overall cost. Miraculously, nearly all of their original guests returned. And this time, when Robyn walked down the aisle, Jake was standing there.

Robyn said, "Our wedding was incredible. It was a journey to get there for sure."

Jake added, "Pretty much everyone who came the year before was there. It was very emotional. The day was magical. The whole thing gives you a new perspective on life."

READ MORE: