WOW: Paralyzed Bride  Walks Down the Aisle

The cheerful bride walked down the aisle Saturday — seven years after a brutal car crash 

severed her spinal cord.

After the 2006 accident, Stevie Beale, then 17, promised herself that she would walk on her 

wedding day.

"It was pretty overwhelming when everything came together," her husband Jared 

VanAusdale, 32, told the Daily News. "All the emotions came crashing down at once… 

watching her achieve her

"He gave me my confidence back and helped me come to terms that this is the way it is and that I'm OK the way I am," she said.

Beale of Toledo, Ohio, was injured the summer before her senior year of high school when 

she was in a car with four other people. One of her friends threw a water bottle out the 

window at another vehicle on the road.

The mischief infuriated one driver who chased the teens for about two miles at 90 miles per 

hour. Beale's best friend, who was at the wheel, lost control and their car swerved into a tree.

The collision killed Beale's friend and left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Stevie Beal is now a motivational speaker. 

"He gave me my confidence back and helped me come to terms that this is the way it is and 

that I'm OK the way I am," she said. "And coming from someone who is romantically 

interested in you and totally accepting of you."

VanAusdale encouraged his fiance through the roadblocks and hiccups of her grueling 

physical therapy sessions.

And finally, on the big day, she managed to head down the aisle with the help of a walker.

Beale now speaks to high school students about making smart decisions.

"I tell my story," she said. "The night of the accident a lot of choices were made. I was just a 

passenger. I didn't throw the water bottle but I’m the one sitting in a chair my entire life."

She hopes that these visits will spare other teenagers of the hardships she faces.

Beale is also working on a master's degree in counseling at the University of Toledo and 

intends to council people struggling with traumatic experiences.

"Who better to council people who experienced that than someone who experiences that on 

a daily basis?" Mary Lou said.