A paralyzed young woman surprised guests and loved ones on her wedding day when she walked down the aisle, supported by her doting father, to marry her fiancé, John. The young bride has spent several years confined to a wheelchair, but her winning spirit has not suffered through the tribulation.
Gina Giaffoglione, of Pacific Junction, Iowa, has been paralyzed for six years following a car accident, but the former athlete has never let it stop her. As a former athlete she now coaches, and she wasn’t about to let her paralysis stop her from walking down the aisle with her father. Although she has no feeling below her bellybutton, she wasn’t going to allow that to stop her from fulfilling a dream.
The bride, upon her engagement, decided she had to walk down the aisle. Months of extensive therapy taught Gina how to use her legs once again, and a custom brace was designed to be hidden under her wedding gown. Her therapy began just as soon as the wedding planning began. It took 18 months for the young bride to learn how to use legs she could no longer feel.
The months of agonizing therapy and planning paid off when the bride walked down the aisle, beside her father, to her waiting love. While John, Gina and close family were in on the surprise, the majority of wedding guests were in the dark about Gina’s plans. Tears flowed freely as the bride stepped down the aisle and married her love, John, in an outdoor ceremony in-front of the couple’s family and close friends.