Toronto Man Proposes to Fiancée as Storm-Damaged Home Is Blocked by Tree

Stephen Armstrong had planned to propose to his girlfriend of six years on Wednesday. Then a massive maple branch tore away during a storm and fell onto the front of his Leaside home, blocking the sidewalk and front door.

Armstrong said he and his family had just gone inside and were filming the sideways wind through the front door when they heard a sudden bang. The branch brushed the windows and tore down some eavestroughs. Armstrong said the house, his truck and his neighbour’s vehicles appeared to escape damage.

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Nobody died, but it was a hell of a time, you know. When you get married it should be memorable. When you propose, this was memorable.

He went ahead with the proposal. As his fiancée tried on a new coat he had bought her, Armstrong’s phone began ringing. Neighbours were calling to tell him about the tree while he was trying to propose. His girlfriend found the ring hidden in the coat pocket and said yes.

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It was really memorable. It was a stressful and emotional day mixed together for us.

“It was really memorable. It was a stressful and emotional day mixed together for us,” Shabnam Saffari told Global News. Armstrong said the proposal had been memorable too. “Nobody died, but it was a hell of a time, you know. When you get married it should be memorable. When you propose, this was memorable.”

Neighbours called Toronto’s 311 service on Armstrong’s behalf. He said the city told them it had prioritized removing the fallen tree because it was blocking the sidewalk. “Just to propose and have her say ‘yes’ was great but god says ‘you can’t leave’,” Armstrong said, referring to the blocked front door.

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Just to propose and have her say ‘yes’ was great but god says ‘you can’t leave’.