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Paraplegic Vet Dance: 27-Year-Old Vet Stands To Dance With Bride After Spinal Injury

By Effie Orfanides
Published on: 03:08 PST, Nov 12, 2014

A paraplegic vet stood to dance with his bride on their wedding day after a motorcycle accident changed his life forever.

Sgt. Joey Johnson, 27, was suspended by a harness, which was attached to a bungee runner of sorts, that he and his friends thought of to make this happen. When his bride entered the room, her husband was standing, and able to have his first dance with her. According to Asbury Park Press, Johnson has no feeling below his chest, and is confined to a wheelchair. The motorcycle accident he was in happened four months after he met the love of his life. However, when he proposed to his girlfriend months later, she still said “yes.”

The paraplegic vet who stood to dance with his new wife has not had an easy road. According to WKRN, Johnson began riding a motorcycle after he returned from serving 10 months in Afghanistan. Riding helped him cope with his post-traumatic stress disorder. However, Sgt. Johnson got into an accident, and suffered a severe spinal injury, something that no one could foresee. His wife, Michelle Johnson, stuck by him, however, and says that her feelings for him have not changed.

“Our family and I have been through so much, but we all know that Joey is still the same person, funny and loving guy he was before. He had to learn a different way of life with him and his chair: from showering, getting dressed and trying to function every day. But we are soul mates,” said Joey’s wife Michelle.

After cutting the cake, Michelle was taken into the bridal suite by her mom and her new mother-in-law. Meanwhile, Joey’s friends got him into a harness. When Michelle came back into the room, she was surprised to see her groom standing, waiting to dance with her.

“It was so amazing to be eye to eye with him again, and such a dream come true,” Michelle said.

The paraplegic vet danced with his wife, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The couple was married in June of 2014, and purchased their first home together a month later. They are still doing well, and are still so in love.

In a related reported by the Inquisitr, a paraplegic BASE jumper made headlines last month when he returned to the bridge where he was injured. You can read about that story here.

[Photo courtesy of ABC 30 Fresno / Twitter]

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