Paralysed bride walks down the aisle on her wedding day

(Photo: Ben Earwicker)

A paralysed woman in Georgia defied the odds by walking down the aisle on her wedding day.

Tami Martin was paralysed in a car accident in 1999, and was told she would never walk again. But she wowed her loved ones when she walked 63 feet down a church aisle to marry her fiancé, Rob Dietrich.

"As we go on, there are all these firsts," Dietrich told WXIA. "She's breaking records every day."

Martin's life changed on October 25, 1999, after a devastating car accident.

"There wasn't a physical mark on my body," she explained. "Everything was internal. My spine was crushed between L1 and L2, and they said I would never walk again."

While recovering and completing physical therapy, Martin gained a significant amount of weight and suffered an injury.

"I'd taken a break because I gained a lot of weight, and I broke my leg doing physical therapy," she explained. 

"The last time I weighed, I had lost 192 pounds. I had always been fit before. I said I might not walk, but there is no way I'm going to be out of shape."

Martin underwent a surgical procedure to help lose the weight, and walked down the aisle in November with the assistance of a walker. She credited her willpower, and belief in a higher power, for her success. 

But, the newly named Martin-Dietrich said she's not stopping now.

"Now my goal is to walk again on my own without the aid of anything," she announced.