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A bride struck down with food poisoning on her big day was saved by her nurse bridesmaids – who hooked her up to an IV while she had her hair and make-up done.
Myka la Viña, 31, had been out for dinner with her husband-to-be, John Paul Basa, 37, a nurse, and eight friends the night before their nuptials on February 17 and woke up on her wedding day feeling ill.
The couple had flown to Zamboanga City, the Philippines, for their wedding along with 200 family and friends.
But, after spending the morning suffering from diarrhea and sickness – having had some suspected “bad clam soup” – Myka was unable to keep even water down without vomiting.
Luckily, one of John Paul’s friends, Ryan Hamoy, 37, who was a groomsman was owner of a local pharmacy, and was able to go and get medical supplies for the bride from his place of work after a prescription was written by two doctors who were guests – Jo William Lim, the best man, and Sairileen Edding.
Five of Myka’s bridesmaids – maid of honor Sheen Lois Magadia-Suan, 31, KC Arian De Asis, 31, Nur-Ayesha Ututalum, 31, Shaima Tammang, 29, Kimberly Mabalot, 32 – were all qualified nurses and were able to spring into action and help.
Myka’s aunt, Rezen Mae la Vina, 42, also a nurse from the US, managed to hook her up to a cannula on the fifth attempt and she was given almost a liter IV drip – using a camera pole as a makeshift IV stand – to help rehydrate her before the ceremony – even managing a quick nap before changing into her wedding dress.
Luckily the bride began to feel better, albeit a little “groggy”, during the ceremony and reception, and managed to dance the night away until midnight with her 200 guests.
Myka, a nurse, from Guildford, Surrey, said: “It was really hard and I’m not going to wish it on an enemy what I’d gone through that morning.
“I’m always eating seafood so I don’t know why of all the days it hit me on my special day I’d been planning for more than a year.
“I was really telling myself ‘am I going to cancel?’ but also ‘I can’t afford to cancel we’ve already paid a lot of money’ and 200 people have flown around the world to be here.
“With all my symptoms I was having it was really crucial to get IV fluids in me at that time.
“Medical supplies in the Philippines can be easily bought if you have a prescription from the doctors.
“My bridesmaids had to insert five cannulas because I couldn’t keep a cannula in – my vein kept bursting from the dehydration and they ended up putting a children’s sized cannula in.
“I felt really really sick at that time but just told them ‘just do my make-up, maybe I’ll be OK later on’.
“The first time I saw my husband was in the church and after.
“It was like double, triple emotions when he saw me and I was alright.
“It was a blessing in disguise to go from feeling really rubbish and sick in the morning to being energetic in the evening.”
Myka and husband, John Paul, were legally married in their Guildford, Surrey, in July 2025 but were only able to have 10 guests attend as it was a just a simple “court wedding” and the pair don’t have many relatives living in the UK.
Wanting to celebrate in Myka’s birthplace of Zamboanga City, the pair invited 200 guests to join them for a second ceremony on February 17.
Myka awoke feeling ill on the big day but managed to start getting ready with her bridesmaids at 7 a.m.
Her hair and make-up were done by the glam team as she kept excusing herself to go to the toilet.
Despite her bridesmaids urging her to go to hospital, Myka says canceling the wedding was “not an option” – with guests flying in from all over the world to attend.
“I powered through,” she said.
“When I was feeling better that’s the time I felt really groggy.
“Once I got to the church I prayed to the Lord to let me walk down the aisle and please wake me up.
“I was closing my eyes and biting my tongue to keep myself awake.
“When they [her guests] saw me I was covered with a veil so the only ones who noticed my face were my photographers and videographers as they had clearly shot pictures before the wedding one and they really noticed my face lightened up.
“I still looked sick but not as sick as I did that morning”.
Luckily, Myka and John Paul were able to make it through the ceremony unscathed and went on to have a successful reception.
“As the day goes by during the ceremony and reception you really saw my face lighten up,” Myka said.
“I didn’t eat anything all day I was scared I’d poop it all away.
“Everyone was happy in the reception and we had games, dancing and singing.”
Husband John Paul says the couple believe “it was some sort of evil eye” that may have been behind Myka’s sudden illness.
Myka said: “Apparently a lot of people are telling me there are people waiting for your wedding and not everyone is going to be happy for you – there are going to be people wishing harm upon you so that’s one thing we were thinking about aside form food poisoning is it may be an evil eye.”
After sharing her experience online, Myka says most people were supportive.
She said: “On Instagram, they said ‘you have good people around you’ and ‘now that’s what you call an entourage’ and ‘you picked the right people – girl power’.
“But on the Facebook side, there was lots of bashing that went on and people kept saying it was for clout or content purposes or that I was overreacting, or it was just Glutathione.
“A lot of people have drips here to make their skin more fair, white and porcelain.
“We had our honeymoon at one of the famous tourist destinations El Nido, Palawan.
“Palawan is famous for it’s sea food as well so we were really careful with what we ate as I didn’t want another episode.
“We were careful at the restaurants we ate at and had a really amazing time doing island hopping, chilling at the beach, drinking.
“There was lots of bashing while we were there.
“I was on my honeymoon on cloud nine and going to read all sorts of bad things on social media, but I just ignored it.”
Husband John Paul added: “Everything was unexpected.
“I never could have imagined things would actually go down that route for that event.
“When the entourage told me she was in a crucial state with her wellbeing and had dehydration and food poisoning I was really nervous at the altar and as per usual everyone comes in first and the last one is the bride.
“It was mixed emotions, I was really happy but that doubled and tripled and I was concerned if she’s really alright.
“I was expecting she would be brought by the wedding car to the hospital or would she be in wheelchair coming in or on a walker.
“I was really spaced out I didn’t know what to expect when I saw her opening the doors my god, my heart was throbbing with excitement, fear and everything else, all the emotions”.
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