Woman wakes from coma to marry naked in front of 700 people (photos)

A plus-sized woman Monique Penberthy married naked in front of 700 people after her wedding dress order was cancelled while she was in a coma.

According to Mirror.uk, doctors couldn’t say if 31-year-old dog trainer would survive, after she developed the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis , so her big day was called off and she lost her dream frock.

When she came round after 31 days in a coma , she was determined to tie the knot. But the dog trainer could not face looking for the perfect size 32 gown again, after taking two months to find the first one, before she fell sick.

So, she suggested to her groom-to-be, truck driver Rowan, aged 27, that they wed in the nude instead.

He agreed and on 27 March this year at Confest, in Moulamein, New South Wales, they both married, wearing just a veil, necklace, top hat and bow tie, and their birthday suits.


Monique, who was nervous ahead of her wedding, said: “It was nothing like we’d planned, but everything we’d wished for.

“When I saw all the guests, those who were at the festival - waiting, and I was naked, I was terrified.

“But when I looked around, and everyone was smiling and clapping, I was touched.”

“We wanted an Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party for our wedding.

“We booked a venue, picked our bridesmaids and even hired the silverware.

“But for me a big thing was the dress. I struggled to find a dream dress that fitted and suited me. After months of searching I finally snapped up an ivory ball gown.

“I had my measurements taken, so I could have it made specially.”



Sadly, disaster struck when Monique became critically ill in November 2015.

After she developed a fever and started vomiting, Rowan rushed her to Dandenong Hospital in Melbourne.

She was in shock and medics put her in an induced coma.

“I’d contracted a flesh-eating bug, which had eaten through my skin,” Monique recalled.

Doctors don’t know how it entered the skin and neither does she.

She had a section of her skin surgically-removed to get rid of the infection and rotting flesh.

“For 31 days Rowan prayed for me to wake up, but no-one could say if I’d survive.” Just before Christmas 2015 Monique came round but was still very weak.

Forced to stay in hospital for 73 days she was eager to get back on her feet – and get married.

Then Rowan broke the news that their wedding had been called off.



Concerned she might not come round, let alone make her nuptials, her mum, Donna, 54, cancelled everything.

“I was devastated,” Monique said. “Especially when Valentine’s Day came and went.

She said Rowan looked handsome in just a bowtie and top hat.

“I’d survived death so what did my weight matter?” she said. “I wasn’t embarrassed.

“I was more concerned about my hair looking okay, as it had fallen out in clumps since my coma, leaving me self-conscious.

“After, everyone hugged and congratulated us. It was beautiful, a dream come true.” Monique added.