Marrying Man of August 2006: From the Airplane to the Ambulance

A man planned a romantic plane-ride proposal to his girlfriend, only to have his plans dramatically altered when the Cessna 172 stalled and crashed. No, it's not the latest ABC sitcom. It's the true story of our Marrying Man of the Month, Mr. August's Adam Sutton. Nineteen-year-old Sutton meticulously planned his proposal to his girlfriend Erika Brussee, arranging for a romantic plane ride while friends and family were planted on shore to hold up a "Will You Marry Me?" sign. But what Sutton meant to be a scene out of "A Perfect Proposal" ended up being more like something out of ABC's "Lost" when the plane faltered and crashed into the Richard B. Russell Regional Airport's tarmac. Groomsmen gifts of parachutes, anyone?

Sutton recounted the first bump and then looking out the windshield to see the front of the plane on fire. "It didn't even register in our mind that we crashed," he said. "I was looking at her and was going to get the ring out, and then-just impact."

What happened next is something even the most imaginative TV writer couldn't dream up. Instead of carrying his beaming fiancé over the threshold, Sutton ends up dragging the unconscious pilot to safety. Rather than a romantic in-air proposal, Brussee murmurs "Tell Adam I said yes," as she is loaded into the ambulance to be treated for a broken leg. Instead of a gorgeous engagement ring on her finger, Brussee makes do with an empty ring box as her own sparkler is lost somewhere in the plane wreckage. Now that's true love.

There was some tough competition for the Mr. August title, but in the end Sutton was a shoe-in. Not only do you have to give the guy props for persevering through a plane crash to deliver his proposal, you gotta hand it to a nineteen-year-old guy who plans a proposal during a plane ride in Rome. Even if it is Rome, Georgia.

For such an adventurous couple, we propose this Dalvey Explorer compass would make a fine wedding gift or groomsmen gifts for similarly enterprising buddies. After such a thrilling proposal, we can't imagine what exploits the honeymoon will hold.

Submit your proposal for a chance to win the Marrying Man of the Month title, or some groovy groomsmen gifts and prizes just for entering!