IT was the dream wedding they thought would never happen.

Birmingham print account director Nick Fincher nearly died twice from a severe case of swine flu.

Yet the 35-year-old dad of two defied the odds, and advice from medics, to regain his health and marry his long-term love Hazel.

Nick was rushed into intensive care after contracting the killer virus last winter.

Doctors at Warwick Hospital said they could do no more to help him and his family were left praying for a miracle.

And with hours left to live, he was handed a lifeline.

Nick’s profile as a fit non-smoker meant he was a suitable match for pioneering Novalung treatment, which was still in development at London’s Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital.

Paramedics twice rushed him down the M40 to the health unit where he was induced into a coma for two weeks each time, as he suffered a relapse following his first emergency stay.

He went into rapid decline following his first treatment.

But he was pulled back from the brink of death after suffering kidney failure, and numerous lung infections.

Nick said: “In plain English, I needed a miracle or the A-Team.

“Well, someone must have been looking over me. Within a matter of hours the A-Team had arrived. Not in a black van and wearing gold chains, but in a luminous yellow ambulance with flashing blue lights which came all the way from Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital, Chelsea.”