BATON ROUGE - One physical therapist at Our Lady of the Lake was recognized Tuesday for her hard work and sacrifices throughout the pandemic.

Like many other health care workers, Abbey Gonzalez spent the last few months devoted to her patients.

Despite her prior, life-changing plans, which included wedding bells and a pretty white dress, Gonzalez put her personal life on the back burner.

One television show out of Detroit, Michigan wanted to honor frontline workers in a unique way. Producers found Gonzalez's story particularly special.

"I kept Abbey's story sitting on my desk for quite a while and I kept going back to it and just thinking, this is representative of everything health care workers should be," President of Carbon Television, Julie McQueen said.

All wrapped up in a big, pretty red bow, a 2020 Chevrolet pickup truck sat in the parking lot of the hospital that Gonzalez spent most of her time in over the last several months.

"Abbey was supposed to get married during the COVID pandemic. She put that off and she did it because she knew the best interest of her time was really to take care of our patients," CEO of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital Scott Wester said.

Abbey and her fiance were able to finally tie the knot recently, though only a handful of family members were able to attend the small ceremony.

In disbelief of her new ride, Gonzalez immediately called her husband to tell him the news.

She said typically, she doesn't win anything. Especially a prize of this magnitude.

Putting things on pause for her patients, the acute care PT said at the end of the day, they have truly impacted her life.

"I've always had compassion, but I feel like I have even more because these patients are isolated and by themselves," Gonzalez said about her work amid the global pandemic.