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Wounded NH Soldier Walks Down The Aisle

NASHUSA, N.H. (CBS) - A local soldier who survived an explosion in Afghanistan has had a long and painful recovery after the blast shattered his legs and killed two comrades.

Doctors told Private First Class Stan Medai it would take almost a year for him to walk again. Stan, though, only had six months until his wedding day, and he was determined to walk down the aisle.

"I was worried about being paralyzed, so I started trying to get my legs moving. I got this one moving pretty easily. This one, I struggled with. I could barely feel it, or move it any," said Stan.

WBZ-TV's Jim Smith reports.

Stan wondered if he would ever walk again, but he made a promise to his mom to return home healthy for his upcoming wedding.

"Right before I deployed, my mom told me, 'No purple hearts, no getting hurt, just come back the way you left,'" said Stan.

The soldier did make it back for his wedding to his wife Nicole and somehow managed to walk down the aisle.

"Originally he had the cane, so we were gonna have all his groomsmen have canes. We were like, 'We'll just make it all the same,' but then he got rid of that and him being able to walk me down the aisle was amazing," said Nicole.

Stan said there was a good chance he would be in a wheelchair for his wedding, but he was determined to walk on his own two feet.

"I told me and her (that I would rise above that). She was with me the whole way," said Stan.

The two got married at Immaculate Conception Church in Nashua to begin their new life together just six months after Stan nearly lost his.

"It was a struggle, but we made it through and we're good now," said Nicole.

The couple made a promise to each other two years ago that they would get married on Feb. 26, 2011. Despite everything they've been through, they managed to keep that promise.

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