Man confined to hospital bed with life-threatening brain growth proposes to girlfriend with a smile

A young man with a life-threatening brain growth has proposed to his long term girlfriend with just a smile after she stayed by his side through his hospital battle.

Sam Hensman, from Adelaide, was just 23 years old and studying to be an electrician when he was rushed to hospital with debilitating headaches, vomiting and shaking.

Mr Hensman had only been dating Tess Delony for a few months when doctors diagnosed him with a massive arteriovenous malformation, which had haemorrhaged in his brain.

The 25-year-old was told he would continuously suffer haemorrhages until he died, but the family would not accept the diagnosis and contacted a specialist neurosurgeon in Sydney.

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Mr Hensman underwent dangerous brain surgery in 2016 and the growth was removed, saving his life. But as a result, he has been left bedridden and unable to speak.

Despite the gruelling rehabilitation, Ms Delony has never left Mr Hensman's side and on the weekend he proposed with an amethyst ring.

"Sammy has been wanting to ask Tess for awhile. After communicating to Mum that he wanted to do it, he began by selecting the type of ring he wanted to give Tess," a post from Mr Hensman's sister on his GoFundMe page read.

"He chose an amethyst, as it's her favourite stone and a colour that is special to them."

Mr Hensman hid the ring in his lap and communicated to his family that he wanted to be alone with his girlfriend.

"As I approached he pulled out a black box, looked into my eyes and handed it to me," Ms Delony said.

"Inside was a ring that couldn't have been more perfectly picked for me...I was so happy and touched by the amount of thought he'd put into it that I started to tear up.

"Sam then put his arm around me to pull me in for a hug and I said 'yes'."

The family are preparing to move Mr Hensman home to continue with his therapy.