Journalist throws up during plane proposal to girlfriend
— -- All marriage proposals don't go as planned, but one California journalist couldn't have suspected he'd throw up right after he pulled out the ring.
Darrell Hamilton Jr. said he had been planning to propose to his girlfriend of two years, Rheanna Lopez, for a year.
"Rheanna just really likes outdoors and nature and I thought it'd be a cool idea to give her a nice view," Hamilton, a video editor for ABC Fresno station KFSN-TV, recalled.
Lopez, 35, had only been in a commercial plane once before so Hamilton, 26, knew she'd be totally thrilled and surprised with a proposal during a private plane ride.
The morning of Feb. 11, Hamilton woke up and created a sign that read, "Marry Me?" Hamilton told ABC News Sunday. "It took two hours to make the sign."
The Clovis, California, man then took that sign to his cousin's house in Reedley, California, about 40 minutes away.
After spending the morning photographing the Reedley Blossom Trail, Hamilton drove to a nearby airport. He didn't tell Lopez what was in store.
"She said, 'Stop! What are you doing? This is crazy,'" Hamilton recalled of the big surprise. "She realized that I knew the pilot when we got out of the car and he said my name."
The two then enjoyed a flight in a private plane, Lopez's second time in flight. Still, with Hamilton trying to take pictures and then locate the sign he had left at his cousin's house to queue the proposal he began feeling motion sickness.
"It had nothing to do with being nervous," Hamilton said. "I got sick from being inside the plane. It was a really small plane and the pilot was helping me look for the sign I made her. The tilting kind of messed with my stomach."
"I couldn't hold it much longer," he continued. "I just tapped her on the shoulder. I didn't even ask her. I just gave her the ring."
That's when Hamilton threw up right there inside the plane to a shocked Lopez.
She did eventually say yes. The two then air-kissed each other ... for obvious reasons.
They don't have wedding plans yet, but Hamilton is looking forward to their life together.
He added that he's anticipating "being a role model for my family."
"I have a son from a previous relationship and me and Rheanna don't have any kids together," Hamilton continued, "so maybe starting a family with a child of our own and being a role model for the both of them, and for her."
