Man paralysed playing football defeats all odds and walks down aisle at wedding
'The accident brought me to her and that is the biggest blessing'
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Your support makes all the difference.A man who was paralysed during a college football game has defeated all odds to walk down the aisle on his wedding day.
For the past seven years, Chris Norton, 26, from Florida, has been confined to a wheelchair following a football accident that left him paralysed from the neck down.
In 2010, then 18-year-old Norton was playing football for Luther College in Iowa when an accident on the field caused him to suffer a severe spinal cord injury.
After being airlifted to hospital, it was confirmed that he had fractured his C3-C4 vertebrae and that he had just three per cent chance of moving anything below his neck ever again, People reports.
Determined not to be part of that three per cent, Norton embarked on a period of gruelling rehabilitation.
And in 2015, he blew away expectations on his graduation day by walking across the stage with the help of his fiancée, Emily Summer.
But, Norton wasn’t prepared to stop there. With their wedding day in sight, he knew he wanted to walk down the aisle and made it his next goal.
After months of intense training, the big day finally arrived and the happy couple exchanged vows at the Abacoa Golf Club on April 21 in front of almost 200 guests.
At the end of the ceremony Summers wrapped her arms around her husband and lifted him out of his wheelchair.
And, to the surprise of their friends and family, together the newlyweds made their way seven yards down the aisle.
Norton says that he hopes his story will give people the inspiration they need to overcome whatever they are going through.
“There have been a lot of moments where we’ve struggled,” he said.
“But anything is possible if we don’t give up. We want to be an example that life can be remarkable. I’m so blessed and happy with where I am.”
Since his accident, Norton has raised more than $800,000 (£573,000) for people with spinal cord injuries for the Chris Norton Foundation and is raising five foster children, all under the age of eight, with his wife.
The couple are also the subject of a documentary called 7 Yards by Fotolanthropy, a non-profit organisation that celebrates stories of hope of those who have defied odds. The organisation needs $250,000 (£179,000) to finish the film and has already raised over $111,000 (£79,500).
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