KUALA KEDAH: A couple who became "famous" after images of them riding a motorcycle with their ailing child wearing an oxygen mask between them have finally tied the knot.
"Alhamdulillah, everything is done and we are now legitimately considered husband and wife."
"Let's close the book on this and open a new one... I hope that Malaysians will pray for us and forget about the past," said Mohd Azlan Ishak, 36.
Azlan married Norhidayu Halim at 6pm today in a ceremony performed by the Al Maarufi mosque imam, Muhammad Hazamer Mualim.
He apologised to everyone and said he hoped the couple would have the support of their friends as this was his first marriage and Norhidayu's second.
"I have a responsibility now as a husband... I will continue to stay at my mother's home in Taman Kota Nelayan and carry on life as usual," he said when met after the ceremony.
Present to witness the marriage was Norhidayu's 64-year-old father, Halim Saad and mother Che Ma Sebawai, 59, as well as relatives and friends.
The couple went viral after pictures of them riding a motorcycle with their 11-month-old baby, who relies on a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine due to chronic lung disease.
There was an outpouring of support from netizens who were concerned about the child and his parents,
Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was concerned, and sought information about them.
Meanwhile, Norhidayu said the donations received from the public would go entirely to treatment for their son, Mohd Aariz Zafran, apart from buying daily necessities for him.
Among the medical expenses would be a new breathing apparatus for him as the current one is not working properly.
"The old CPAP machine was donated to us by a non-governmental organisation and it cost RM7,000.
"We intend to have an air-conditioned room for our son as he cannot take heat," she said.
Norhidayu said she was so disturbed by some of the comments on social media when the picture of them with their son went viral, so much so that she could not eat for four days.
She said Welfare Department officers came to her home to give her counselling after that in order to prevent her from doing anything rash to herself.