Sheeka Sanahori

USA TODAY

DEKALB, Texas -- Several wedding guests dried their tears as Kent Stephenson patiently stood, waiting for his bride to come down the aisle. Some of that emotion was surely for Misti Richeson, walking down the aisle in her lacy white dress and cowboy boots, but many others were astonished at what Stephenson was able to do, standing at the altar.

Stephenson and Richeson had only been dating for a few months when Stephenson, a Pro Am Motocross racer, had a devastating accident. In June 2009, the motor on his motorcycle locked up 80 feet in the air. The crash injured his spinal cord and left his body paralyzed from the chest down. Doctors said he’d be in a wheelchair the rest of his life.

Richeson stayed by her boyfriend’s side. “There have been several moments when I realized she was the one,” Stephenson said. “We have experienced so many challenges together in life, and we always overcome them – together.”

Four years later, Stephenson became the second person to try a new procedure called epidural stimulation. Doctors implanted an electrical stimulator in his back in a procedure funded in part by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. It restored some voluntary movement of his legs, which left many of their wedding guests in awe of what he would do on the couple’s big day.

With the help of his stimulator and a special frame, Stephenson was on his feet as he danced with his wife during their first dance at their wedding reception. Earlier in the day, he stood at the altar, waiting for her to walk toward him at the beginning of the ceremony. Stephenson wiped a tear away as he stood there, taking it all in.

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