Paralyzed bride-to-be trains for wedding march
After a young Canadian woman survived a terrible car crash a couple of years ago, doctors told her she'd need a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
She's decided to ignore that prediction.
Now, Jennifer Darmon's getting married to Mike Belawetz next month - and she's readying herself to walk down the aisle.
CBS News Correspondent Michelle Miller shared the couple's inspirational story.
Miller observed tat Mike Belawetz doesn't have much rhythm, but his fiancee is making sure he's got all the right moves for their first dance as husband and wife next month.
Miller asked the couple, "How have the lessons been? Tough?"
Mike said, "Tough."
Miller said Belawetz has to be on his toes, because it's a miracle his bride-to-be is even on her feet. Jennifer, 28, is paralyzed from the hips down.
Two-and-a-half years ago, on the way to the beach, the couple was in a head-on collision. Mike sustained minor injuries, but Jen suffered a life-altering spinal cord injury that left her in a wheelchair.
Jennifer recalled, "I remember the doctor coming into the hospital room and telling me there would be almost no chance if any that I would ever walk again."
Diane Patzer, a physical therapist at Detroit's Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, said they're working on trying to recover function in the muscles that were lost.
Initially, Miller said Jen was taught how to function in the wheelchair. Now, she's learning how to live life out of it.
Patzer said of Jennifer, "She has come so far."
Three hours a day, three times a week, Jennifer works out with trainers to strengthen her abdominal muscles and build independence.
"They want to see me doing what I've been told I can't do," she said.
Only after Belawetz proposed last June, did she raise the bar even higher, making plans for a walk to remember down the aisle at her wedding on April 16.
Miller explained Jennifer is able to do the walk thanks to hard work and a new, custom fit, carbon fiber leg brace. It locks the knee and supports the leg. And since Jennifer still has feeling and use of her abdominal muscles, she can maneuver her hips, position her legs and maintain balance with some help.
There are about 11,000 new spinal cord injuries in the U.S. each year, Miller reported. She said treatment gives hope to people with injuries like Jennifer's. And for Jennifer, recovery means a hope is fulfilled with a a walk down the aisle.
With a borrowed wedding gown, Darmon is rehearsing the 40-foot march.
Miller remarked, "It's a short distance, considering how far bride and groom have already come and their many miles ahead together."
Miller asked Mike, "Did you ever question, 'I can't do this'?"
Mike said, "No, I can't think of what it would be like without Jen. Jen's the one."
Miller added, "Jen's father and brother will be at her side, arm and arm; they'll escort her to the new man in her life waiting at the altar."
Miller said Jennifer and Mike's wedding will be in Windsor, Canada, with 200 guests attending.
Miller told co-anchor Chris Wragge, "We're spoiling some of the fun and surprise for them if they're watching this today, because she's going to wow them."
Wragge asked, "Is there any chance, though, if she continues her rehabilitation that she'll ever walk on her own without assistance?"
Miller said, "Barring some incredible feat in medical science, no. She's going to be dependent on either those balance beams, or someone to help her balance herself."