http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/paralyzed-bride-marry-one-accident-175440457.html

VIDEO OF STORY (in link above)

Paralyzed bride to marry one year after accident

Bride-to-be Rachelle Friedman (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Rachelle+Friedman&cs=bz&fr=buzz) and her groom, Chris Chapman, give new meaning to the marriage vows pledging to love, honor and support one's partner "in sickness and in health." One year after the bride was paralyzed from a freak accident during her bachelorette party, the couple will marry (http://news.yahoo.com/nc-woman-marry-1-paralyzing-accident-091226989.html).

dance instructor made news last May when during the poolside horseplay, she was pushed in the he shallow end of the pool by one of her bridesmaids. She told ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/US/bride-paralyzed-freak-bachelorette-party-accident/story?id=12163284) that she knew immediately something was wrong. The 25-year-old said, " I instantly just stopped moving." She told her friends it wasn't a joke and to call 9-1-1.

The bride-to-be was paralyzed from the waist down with the wedding one month away. The two postponed the wedding, but their commitment to each other remained strong. The two will finally exchange vows (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43793271/ns/today-weddings/) and honeymoon in Fiji.

CLICK ON BELOW FOR PICTURE SLIDESHOW

Chapman, who teaches middle school science, said he never thought, "'What am I going to do?' It was 'What are we going to do.' … It was one step at a time." The 28-year-old groom will be by his bride's side when her father wheels her down the aisle. (http://news.yahoo.com/photos/woman-marries-a-year-after-being-paralyzed-1311002761-slideshow/)

(http://news.yahoo.com/photos/woman-marries-a-year-after-being-paralyzed-1311002761-slideshow/)[URL="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/18/national/main20080334.shtml"] ("http://news.yahoo.com/photos/woman-marries-a-year-after-being-paralyzed-1311002761-slideshow/" [/URL) The bride has refused to name the woman who caused the accident, who will also be attending the wedding. "She was tragically hurt, mentally and emotionally," Friedman said. "And I was tragically hurt, physically."

In the past year, Friedman has become active, learning wheelchair rugby and texting with friends using her knuckles instead of her fingers.

For his part, Chapman can't wait to be married. "I'll be happy and relieved to see her coming down the aisle," he says. "It's something we've been working on for quite a while."

The two will tie the knot on Friday.

That's a nice story. It's sad to hear that she was paralyzed, but that's good that she and her fiancee are still getting married. That's admirable that she doesn't blame the bridesmaid for what happened. Since it was an accident that's understandable.

http://www.people.com/article/paralyzed-bride-rachelle-friedman-baby-surrogate?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl14%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D522778

Paralyzed Bride Rachelle Friedman Expecting First Child With Help Of Surrogate
(See Video)
By Michelle Boudin 8/29/2014 at 11:05 AM EDT

Rachelle Friedman was afraid to get too excited. But once she saw the image on the sonogram and heard her baby's heartbeat, she let herself feel the full force of her joy. "I was so nervous," Friedman, 28, tells PEOPLE of her first glimpse of her 6-week-old future son or daughter. "It was super awesome. We went into a room and they pulled it up on the screen. It was so small, and the doctor pointed it out to me, and I was so excited."

Friedman was paralyzed from the chest down in a freak accident four years ago. She revealed to PEOPLE in June that she and husband Chris Chapman, 31 – who married a year after the accident – were trying to get pregnant with the help of a gestational surrogate. Friedman initially hoped she could become pregnant herself, but doctors told her the blood pressure medication she needs to take wouldn't be safe for a fetus.

Friedman's college friend, Laurel Humes, a stay-at-home mom, had followed her pal's story and seen Freidman's blog post about seeking a surrogate. The three traveled to California for the procedure, and this week Friedman visited Asheville, North Carolina, to see the baby's heartbeat and confirm the pregnancy. Chapman, a teacher in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the couple lives couldn’t be there, so Friedman video-chatted with him, holding her phone up to the ultrasound and letting the doctor explain what he was seeing.

“He turned up the heartbeat, and we could both hear it," Friedman says. "It was amazing!" The couple have decided to wait a few months to learn the baby's sex. Friedman wants to host a big reveal party for friends and family, where they'll all find out together. "Seeing the baby today was pretty overwhelming because it's so real now," Friedman says. "We've been talking about this for a while – it's been an idea in our heads, so it's pretty incredible. It's like, that's me and Chris's kid. It's just crazy to hear the heartbeat of our child."

Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.

That's great that they're having a baby. Her husband is so supportive. Many guys would have bailed after she was paralyzed, considering they weren't married yet.

That's great that they're having a baby. Her husband is so supportive. Many guys would have bailed after she was paralyzed, considering they weren't married yet.

:nod: A real man stays, but so many wouldn't.