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Newlywed nurse performs CPR in wedding dress after tying the knot

When Julie Stroyne heard someone shout for a doctor, she knew it was going to be a wedding night to remember.
/ Source: TODAY

Julie Stroyne's wedding night was not only the beginning of a new life, it was a chance to save one.

The 24-year-old trauma nurse and Andrew Nixon, 26, were walking out of the Pennsylvanian Hotel in Pittsburgh for the first time as husband and wife after their June 11 wedding when they heard someone yell, "Does anyone know CPR? Is anyone a doctor?"

newlyweds cpr wedding
Julie Stroyne and Andrew Nixon walking down the aisle for the first time as husband and wife.Courtesy of Brand Studio

Stroyne, who works at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, ran over to a bench where she found a young woman unconscious.

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As another couple and some bartenders from across the street looked on, the new bride dropped her flowers and purse and started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the woman, who looked to be in her 20s.

"I kind of forgot about the day's activities and focused on saving this woman's life," Stroyne told TODAY.

newlyweds cpr wedding
Julie Stroyne giving a woman CPR right after getting married.Courtesy of Bob Limpert

After a couple minutes, Stroyne shouted to bystanders that the woman's pulse was back.

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Once the paramedics arrived, the newlyweds let them take over.

The couple believed the woman was on her way back from a Kesha concert when she passed out, but weren't sure of the specifics.

"While it was happening, I wasn't thinking much about my dress getting ripped or how funny it must have looked to see a bride run into action in her wedding dress," Stroyne said. "I'm just happy someone in the medical field was passing by."

newlyweds cpr wedding
Julie Stroyne and Andrew Nixon at their wedding.Courtesy of Brand Studio

After checking into the Westin hotel across the street, they went down to the hotel bar where friends were gathered. No one could believe what they had just done.

"She happened to be in the right place at the right time and I'm glad she was," Sandy Stroyne, Julie's mom, told TODAY.

"I've known her since she was 15 and seeing what she did Saturday night didn't surprise me at all," Nixon said. "I'm very proud to call her my wife."