It's a far cry from a fairytale, but an American man and woman have found love after he shot her in the leg.

Aubrey Mayo, 24, and Matthew Tyler Webb, 23, had been friends for two months when they decided to spend time together on the roof of Tyler's mother's house in LaFayette, Georgia on November 21.

From the roof, Webb reportedly noticed a pack of deer and decided to leave Mayo alone while he attempted to hunt them.

The Times Free Press reports that Mayo initially stayed behind, but later left the roof and followed her friend to the woods because she thought she heard him calling her and may have needed a knife.

Audrey Mayo walked straight into friend Matthew Webb's line of fire. Photo: Facebook More

She then began calling him from the woods.

"I was doing like a half yell," Mayo told the Times Free Press.

"I didn't want to scare the deer away."

But Webb didn't hear Mayo's muffled calls, instead noticing only a rustling in the bushes and subtle movements behind the tree.

"And then I heard a gunshot," Audrey said. "And then I felt it. And then I hit the ground."

Hearing his friend's screams, Webb rushed over to find Mayo bleeding on the ground.

'There were massive amounts of blood,' LaFayette Police Department Capt. Stacey Meeks told reporters.

Mayo says she doesn't remember much after she was shot, but woke up in hospital days later with Webb by her bedside and extensive damage to her leg.

The bullet reportedly sliced through a main vein, causing nerve damage and blood circulation problems.

Doctors have told Mayo that if the wound becomes seriously infected, her leg will need to be amputated.

"It hurts on top of my knee," she said.

"And behind my knee. And on my shin, my calf, my ankle, my hip. The whole thing hurts."

However despite the damage he has caused, Mayo and her family aren't angry at Webb.

In fact the pair have made their romance official and he has even moved into the family's home to help care for her.

"No need to put more negativity on the whole thing," Audrey Mayo said.

The family now laugh about the unlikely start to the couple's relationship.

"Cupid doesn't use a bow and arrow anymore," said Mayo's brother-in-law 30-year-old Jesse Greer.

"He uses an SKS" rifle.

After Webb called 911 on the day of the shooting, police charged him with using a firearm within fifty metres of a main road.

Webb also admitted to using illegal drugs, and is expected to be charged for a number of other crimes including misuse of a firearm and failing to wear orange while hunting.



