NY Fire Department chaplain saves wedding nearly wrecked by crane crash

A 565-foot crane that collapsed in Manhattan Friday shut down of streets, smashed a handful of cars and halted traffic for hours — but it couldn't stop a wedding.

Manhattan Fire Department Chaplain Ann Kansfield was purveying the scene of the crash, which also caused one fatality, when she noticed a bride shivering in the sleet and snow.

See also: Manhattan crane collapses during morning rush hour, killing at least 1

The bride — 25-year-old Nesh Pillay of Toronto — had just left a nearby salon and was planning on calling a cab to hitch a ride to her wedding, but one couldn't get through due to the road closures, Kansfield wrote in a post on Facebook.

Image: Facebook, Ann Kansfield

Pillay told the National Post that she'd traveled to New York City with a few friends, family, and her fiancé for a simple wedding. That was derailed by the crane crash, which killed one person.

“It’s an unlucky start to a lucky marriage,” she told the Post. “It was crazy but I guess that’s how marriage is."

Pillay was stuck in the salon for hours before deciding to make her way through the debris in her wedding dress. Kansfield saw her clad only in a strapless gown in the 35-degree weather and offered her her coat and her company. The two walked the six blocks to city hall together.

Pillay said she cried when she saw her fiancé there, thinking of those who were grieving after the morning's tragedy.

She was an hour late to her wedding and the officiant of the ceremony couldn't wait, so Kansfield went ahead and officiated the wedding, too.

“I’m not very religious, but I think if there’s an angel it would be her,” Pillay told the Post.