{"id":22040,"date":"2025-12-11T14:45:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T19:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=22040"},"modified":"2025-12-11T14:45:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T19:45:44","slug":"couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html","title":{"rendered":"Couple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Joe Atkins County Commissioner \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes, the most beautiful love stories begin in the unlikeliest of places. For Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard, that place was Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota \u2014 where both were recovering from traumatic brain injuries and where, years later, they would return for a life-changing moment.<\/p>\n

Zach and Isabelle first met in 2018 under extraordinary circumstances. At just 18 years old, Zach had collapsed on the sideline of a football game after suffering a brain bleed. Around the same time, Isabelle was in a serious car accident that left her with a severe head injury. Both teens were in comas, fighting for their lives in the same hospital.<\/p>\n

When Zach regained consciousness, he heard about Isabelle\u2019s condition and felt a connection right away. Though she was still unconscious, Zach told her family something remarkable \u2014 that she was going to be okay. \u201cI just felt like I knew,\u201d he recalled. \u201cMy spirit told me she\u2019s gonna be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was right. When Isabelle woke up, the two met briefly and even took a photo together before going their separate ways. Life carried on, and six years passed without contact \u2014 until God brought their paths together again in the most unexpected way.<\/p>\n

Their mothers, who had become friends after their children\u2019s hospital stays, organized a family dinner. That night, Zach and Isabelle reconnected \u2014 and this time, the spark was undeniable. \u201cWe connected from the first moment we met,\u201d Zach shared. \u201cOur spirits were meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

As their friendship evolved into something deeper, they launched a podcast together called “Hope in Healing,” utilizing their own testimonies to encourage others who have faced trauma or loss. Through their shared experiences of recovery and faith, they\u2019ve inspired countless listeners with their message that even in the darkest moments, God can bring restoration and love.<\/p>\n

Recently, Zach brought Isabelle back to the place where their journey began. He told her they were filming an episode of their podcast at Regions Hospital \u2014 but he had a different plan in mind. \u201cI was surprised, definitely,\u201d Isabelle admitted with a laugh during an interview on America\u2019s Newsroom<\/em>. \u201cI kind of knew it could happen that day, but I didn\u2019t think it would, because he can\u2019t keep secrets!\u201d<\/p>\n

At the hospital, Zach guided Isabelle to the very spot where he had first met her family years before. Then, as a white curtain fell away to reveal a giant heart made of flowers, he dropped to one knee and asked the question that would forever change their lives: \u201cWill you marry me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Through tears, Isabelle said yes.<\/p>\n

Their story is a powerful reminder that even in moments of pain and uncertainty, God can weave together something beautiful. What began as two separate journeys of survival turned into one shared story of hope, healing, and love \u2014 all beginning, and now coming full circle, at the very same hospital.<\/p>\n

As Zach said with a smile, \u201cI knew she was the one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, the most beautiful love stories begin in the unlikeliest of places. For Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard, that place was Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota \u2014 where both were recovering from traumatic brain injuries and where, years later, they would return for a life-changing moment. Zach and Isabelle first met in 2018 under…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":22043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nCouple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard first connected at Regions Hospital in Minnesota after separate traumatic injuries.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Couple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard first connected at Regions Hospital in Minnesota after separate traumatic injuries.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-11T19:45:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/12\/Minnesota_couple-credit-Joe-Atkins-County-Commissioner-facebook.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beliefnet Contributors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Couple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later","description":"Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard first connected at Regions Hospital in Minnesota after separate traumatic injuries.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Couple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later","og_description":"Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard first connected at Regions Hospital in Minnesota after separate traumatic injuries.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html","og_site_name":"Inspiration Report","article_published_time":"2025-12-11T19:45:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/12\/Minnesota_couple-credit-Joe-Atkins-County-Commissioner-facebook.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beliefnet Contributors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html","name":"Couple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/12\/Minnesota_couple-credit-Joe-Atkins-County-Commissioner-facebook.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-11T19:45:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-11T19:45:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/aea408b5be59bf6e05556b03859b6b79"},"description":"Zach Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard first connected at Regions Hospital in Minnesota after separate traumatic injuries.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/12\/Minnesota_couple-credit-Joe-Atkins-County-Commissioner-facebook.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2025\/12\/Minnesota_couple-credit-Joe-Atkins-County-Commissioner-facebook.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Joe Atkins County Commissioner \/ Facebook"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/12\/couple-who-met-after-waking-up-from-comas-gets-engaged-at-same-hospital-years-later.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Couple Who Met After Waking Up From Comas Gets Engaged at Same Hospital Years Later"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/","name":"Inspiration Report","description":"Inspiration News, Life Advice and Emotional Wellness","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/aea408b5be59bf6e05556b03859b6b79","name":"Beliefnet Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6f7\/6f77b66a3e683e8aeba5be93e4ae3e04x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6f7\/6f77b66a3e683e8aeba5be93e4ae3e04x96.jpg","caption":"Beliefnet Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/author\/skirk"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22046,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22040\/revisions\/22046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}