Bride Ditches Wheelchair and Walks on Wedding Day
— -- (Editor's note: The video in this story was produced by Disney’s Fine Art Photography & Videography. Disney is the parent company of ABC News.)
In 1999, Tami Martin-Dietrich was involved in a devastating car crash that left her unable to walk.
"I had no visible injuries except for a bruise on my neck," she said. "Everything else was internal. My spinal cord had been crushed."
Doctors told Martin-Dietrich that they were hoping to get her walking within five years. Unfortunately, the day never came for the now 44-year-old, who eventually began putting on pounds once her physical therapy sessions expired.
"I went from being very active to not active at all," Martin-Dietrich told ABC News. "Because I was depressed, my diet also changed."
Being just under 40 years old, Martin-Dietrich decided it was time to embark on a healthier lifestyle.
"I was still single, almost in my 40s, and I always thought I'd be married with kids by the time I was in my 20s," she said. "I was motivated to find the love of my life, but I had to be happy with myself before I could be happy with anyone else."
In 2012 Martin-Dietrich went through gastric-bypass surgery, which enabled her to lose a whopping 192 pounds.
After getting engaged Labor Day weekend 2013, Martin-Dietrich began working on her lifelong dream to walk down the aisle for her September 2014 wedding to her fiance Rob.
"I went back to physical therapy for six weeks," she said. "It was unheard of. No one ever had somebody get that much better with just six weeks of therapy and three weeks of walking."
With the assistance of two family friends and a gait trainer, Martin-Dietrich walked down the aisle towards the love of her life.
"When I saw Rob, I said, 'I’m doing it -- I’ll see you in a few feet,'" she said. "Seeing the look on his face, I didn’t even know he got choked up.I was just focused on walking the best that I could."
In light of her achievement, Martin-Dietrich hopes her story stands as an inspiration to others.
"Sitting down was never my plan, but God had a different plan for me than I did," she said. "My message to everybody is to never give up or surrender. Don’t ever accept your situation. I have challenges of my own, that’s obvious. But if I can do this, anybody can."
The Dietrich's currently reside in Atlanta, Georgia, and have dreams of starting a family soon.
