A terrifying car accident left Stevie Beale paralyzed, but the young bride was determined to walk down the aisle of her wedding. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
There were wedding day jitters for a beautiful bride. And then, a hint of the incredible journey that took her there.
Stevie Beale is paralyzed from the waist down. She gripped a walker as her bridesmaids buttoned up her gown and clipped on her veil. Then, she rested up for the moment she'd been working so hard for.
Seven years ago Beale, at age 17, suffered a broken back in a terrible car crash. How the accident happened was shocking.
An ex member of the local school board says a water bottle was thrown at his windshield by a car full of teens. He drove after them and was found "guilty of chasing the teens at high speeds." The driver of the car Beale was in crashed into a tree.
Beale recovered and met Jared Vanausdale. He proposed and they started planning their wedding in their hometown of Toledo, Ohio.
But she wasn't your typical bride, fussing about flowers and other details. All she really cared about was being able to walk down the aisle.
"No matter what the doctors said, I was going to do it," said Beale.
She endured nine months of grueling physical therapy. Step-by-step, she grew stronger and learned to walk again.
Beale recalled, "About two months before the wedding, I wanted to give up. It wasn't going as smoothly as I wanted, but somehow I powered through."
The inspirational moment when all of Stevie's courage and determination paid off had arrived.
"I was so focused on getting down the aisle and thinking, 'Please don't fall, please don't fall.' "
She was also able to stand for the entire 10-minute ceremony. She briefly let go of her walker to hold Jared's hand. After they were pronounced man and wife, Jared delighted everyone and scooped up his bride.
At the reception, Stevie was even able to join her new husband for their first dance.
An emotional wedding day for a bride who refused to give up.
