This Bride, Paralyzed From The Neck Down, Taught Herself To Walk Down The Aisle For Her Wedding

On July 12, 2008, life changed for Jaquie Goncher. “I went to a friend’s house after work and dove into her pool. I broke my neck and it instantly paralyzed me from the neck down,” Goncher told BuzzFeed. “I sustained a spinal cord injury from my C5 vertebrae being completely shattered. I also fractured C1 and C2. After my surgery, the surgeon told my mother and I that I would never walk again.”

Eight years later, she proved the surgeon wrong when — after a year of very hard work and physical therapy — she walked down the aisle at her wedding and danced with her new husband.

To which the only natural reaction was:

The road wasn’t easy, of course, but Goncher was determined to stand and walk at her wedding, and put in the work to get there. Planks, weightlifting, ab and leg machines, standing on a bosu ball — the one-time high school athlete persevered. “I walked on the treadmill at the slowest pace holding onto the sides and focused on not passing out. I would pull myself with my legs in my wheelchair around the gym.”

Goncher’s work paid off: she was able to support herself for the entire 4 1/2-hours of her ceremony and reception in May, which, she said, surprised even herself. “I was completely shocked that I was standing that long,” she said. “I think I was just too happy to notice if it was difficult or not. All I can remember is having the time of my life!”

Her groom, Andy, was also surprised at her perseverance, though the fact that she was standing was nothing new to him — he’d helped her through the process in the preceding months. However, the couple kept Jaquie’s accomplishment a secret from the guests until she walked down the aisle. “There were tears everywhere…Walking down the aisle felt like a dream. I felt accomplished and just so grateful and thankful.”

Goncher was also able to share her first dance with Andy to the Ingrid Michaelson song, “The Way I Am,” a moment that was captured by a live event artist hired as a surprise by her mother. The artist, Maggie Smith Kühn, actually shared her side of the story on Imgur, and said that Jaquie had hinted at the fact that she wished she could hire her for the wedding.

“Her reaction at seeing me in the reception space was so awesome, we both cried,” she wrote.

Overall, Goncher said, the day was “overwhelmingly perfect.” “I wanted to enjoy my wedding without the wheelchair. Walking down the aisle was awesome but actually standing and dancing for my entire wedding is what really mattered to me.”

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