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Patient proposal pays tribute to the place that gave her a 'second chance at life'

Clinical Center News

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Jul 01, 2019
Branden Bolivar proposes to Marissa Amuso, a patient, May 9 at the NIH Clinical Center
Branden Bolivar gets on a bended knee to surprise Marissa Amuso with a marriage proposal May 9 at the NIH Clinical Center.
 

On May 9, after completing her outpatient appointment, patient Marissa Amuso walked out to the common area in Building 10 to find her boyfriend Branden Bolivar on one knee asking for her hand in marriage. Amuso has been participating in clinical trials at the Clinical Center since 2000 and is currently participating in a trial for a haploidentical cord blood stem cell transplant

"Getting proposed [to] at the Clinical Center was very meaningful to me, not only to be surrounded by the best doctor, physician assistants and nurses (my transplant team), but the Clinical Center itself," Amuso said. "I have been coming here for years, and without this place, I would not still be here. NIH has become a second home to me, and my doctors and nurses feel like part of my family."

Nuptials are expected in mid-2020.

- Cindy Fisher

Marissa Amuso hugs her care provider, Dr. Richard Childs
Marissa Amuso hugs her care provider, Dr. Richard Childs, who had been keeping the proposal a secret, after being told by Branden in advance.
 
Marissa Amuso and her fiancé Branden Bolivar pose with her transplant team at the NIH Clinical Center
Kristen Gunn, Tatyana Worthy, Teresa Jerussi, Ladan Foruraghi, Patricia Prince, Lisa Cook, Kem Brown, Richard Childs, Marissa Amuso and her fiancé Branden Bolivar.