Quadriplegic Woman Defies Odds, Walks and Becomes Pregnant
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Stockbyte/Thinkstock(WACO, Texas) — A 32-year-old Texas woman who first proved doctors wrong by walking after she was paralyzed, is defying the odds again by expecting her first child.
Liz Mitchell, of Waco, Texas, was declared a quadriplegic by doctors in 2012 after she fell 16 feet off her balcony while playing with her dog.
Mitchell landed on her head and was put in a medically-induced coma for five days.
“One day you wake up and you have a breathing tube in and you realize the body you thought defined who you were is useless,” Mitchell told ABC News affiliate WFAA-TV.
When Mitchell awoke, it was her then-boyfriend, Bryan Mitchell, who broke the news of her condition, but in a unique way.
“He didn’t just say, ‘You’re paralyzed; you can’t walk.’ He specifically said, ‘One day, we’ll move to Waco, we’ll get married, and we will have a beautiful life. And it does not matter if you are in a wheelchair,'” Liz Mitchell recalled to WFAA.
Mitchell eventually moved to the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, where Bryan stood by her side, encouraging her to wiggle her toes and push through therapy.
Videos documented every step of Mitchell’s recovery, from swimming to moving on to the bike and then the treadmill and, finally, walking on her own.
“Seeing the person she became reaffirmed to me that I am in love with this girl,” Bryan Mitchell said.
Liz walked herself down the aisle to marry Bryan and then the couple faced their next hurdle together: becoming pregnant.
Even though Liz Mitchell describes her body as still feeling “asleep” — she can’t feel pain or temperature from the neck down — she became pregnant with the couple’s first child and has even felt the baby’s kick.
“I cannot believe it. …It is such a miracle,” she told WFAA. “It seems like a dream, but I’m ready.”
The couple plans to name the daughter Dorothy Marie, which means “gift of God.”
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