What a sad story--Minutes into marriage, bride dies in first dance!
It was the first dance of a marriage that was not to be.
Kim Sjostrom and Teddy Efkarpides (pictured above, credit:AP) had been married for less than an hour on January 19 when the bride crumpled in her husband's arms during a rendition of a Greek song that means simply "love me". At 36, Ms Sjostrom was dead from heart disease.
The couple were married in Davie, Florida, three years to the day after their first date.
Ms Sjostrom had wanted a real-life version of the film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which played in the background as friends fixed her hair and make-up before the ceremony.
The wedding was a project at Davie Elementary School, where Ms Sjostrom taught first grade. Fellow teachers provided the wedding gown, the flowers, decorations and one of them, an ordained minister, performed the ceremony.
Ms Sjostrom carried blue and white flowers during the ceremony - the colours of the Greek flag. As they exchanged vows, Mr Efkarpides, a 43-year-old carpenter and navy veteran, wept with happiness.
The joyous mood of the celebration was soon transformed when Ms Sjostrom complained of being lightheaded during the couple's first dance.
Mr Efkarpides thought his wife, a diabetic, needed sugar. She collapsed.
Efforts to revive her by wedding guests, paramedics and doctors at a nearby hospital all failed.
Our sincerest condolence goes to Mr. Teddy Efkarpides, his family and friends!