WEDDING TRAGEDY
Bride dies during couple's first dance
A bride, just 36, died in her beloved's arms during their wedding dance.
By ELINOR J. BRECHER
<!-- begin /production/story/credit_line_format.comp -->ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
<!-- end /production/story/credit_line_format.comp --><!-- START /pubsys/production/story/story_assets.comp --><SCRIPT language=Javascript> function PopupPic(sPicURLx, sHeight, sWidth) { var sPicURL = "/548/v-morephotos/story/412701.html"; y=Math.floor((screen.availHeight-sHeight)/2); x=Math.floor((screen.width-sWidth)/2); window.open(sPicURL,"slideshow","width="+sWidth+",height="+sHeight+",top="+y+",left="+x+",scrollbars=auto,resizable=yes").focus(); } </SCRIPT><!-- photo or image available --><!-- Start: /pubsys/production/story/assets/image_embedded.comp -->
JARED LAZARUS / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Holding the tiara his wife, Kim, wore at their wedding, Teddy Efkarpides, 43, still grieves over her Jan. 19 death. Kim Sjostrom-Efkarpides, 36, collapsed during the first dance at their wedding and died of a heart disorder.
<!-- End: /pubsys/production/story/assets/external_link.comp --><!-- End: /pubsys/production/story/assets/non_image_assets.comp -->
<!-- no polls to display -->
<!-- END /pubsys/production/story/story_assets.comp --><!-- story_videobox.comp --><!-- /story_videobox.comp -->
The only thing Kim Sjostrom wanted more than a real-life reenactment of My Big, Fat Greek Wedding was the Greek-American husband who came with it: Teddy Efkarpides.
By the time the Davie teacher married the Sunrise carpenter on Jan. 19, she'd had a Greek-themed bridal shower, gotten a ''Greek by Marriage'' T-shirt and practically memorized the movie, which played while friends did her hair and makeup before the ceremony.
''She couldn't wait,'' says Efkarpides, 43.
The Hollywood version has a happy ending; this version doesn't. As 60 disbelieving guests looked on, Kimberly Sjostrom Efkarpides, 36, crumpled in the first dance at the reception and died of heart disease -- in her new husband's arms. They had been married for less than an hour.
''She was 10 weeks pregnant,'' says Efkarpides, a father of three. ''She was upset. She'd been pregnant'' in her first marriage, and lost that baby at five months.
Bride dies during couple's first dance
A bride, just 36, died in her beloved's arms during their wedding dance.
By ELINOR J. BRECHER
<!-- begin /production/story/credit_line_format.comp -->ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
<!-- end /production/story/credit_line_format.comp --><!-- START /pubsys/production/story/story_assets.comp --><SCRIPT language=Javascript> function PopupPic(sPicURLx, sHeight, sWidth) { var sPicURL = "/548/v-morephotos/story/412701.html"; y=Math.floor((screen.availHeight-sHeight)/2); x=Math.floor((screen.width-sWidth)/2); window.open(sPicURL,"slideshow","width="+sWidth+",height="+sHeight+",top="+y+",left="+x+",scrollbars=auto,resizable=yes").focus(); } </SCRIPT><!-- photo or image available --><!-- Start: /pubsys/production/story/assets/image_embedded.comp -->
JARED LAZARUS / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Holding the tiara his wife, Kim, wore at their wedding, Teddy Efkarpides, 43, still grieves over her Jan. 19 death. Kim Sjostrom-Efkarpides, 36, collapsed during the first dance at their wedding and died of a heart disorder.
<!-- End: /pubsys/production/story/assets/external_link.comp --><!-- End: /pubsys/production/story/assets/non_image_assets.comp -->
<!-- no polls to display -->
<!-- END /pubsys/production/story/story_assets.comp --><!-- story_videobox.comp --><!-- /story_videobox.comp -->
The only thing Kim Sjostrom wanted more than a real-life reenactment of My Big, Fat Greek Wedding was the Greek-American husband who came with it: Teddy Efkarpides.
By the time the Davie teacher married the Sunrise carpenter on Jan. 19, she'd had a Greek-themed bridal shower, gotten a ''Greek by Marriage'' T-shirt and practically memorized the movie, which played while friends did her hair and makeup before the ceremony.
''She couldn't wait,'' says Efkarpides, 43.
The Hollywood version has a happy ending; this version doesn't. As 60 disbelieving guests looked on, Kimberly Sjostrom Efkarpides, 36, crumpled in the first dance at the reception and died of heart disease -- in her new husband's arms. They had been married for less than an hour.
''She was 10 weeks pregnant,'' says Efkarpides, a father of three. ''She was upset. She'd been pregnant'' in her first marriage, and lost that baby at five months.
