Once-Quadriplegic Woman Pregnant With First Child; Prayer and Miracles Credited for Pregnancy
A woman who was once a quadriplegic is now walking and actually expecting her first child with her husband, which she says is nothing short of a miracle from God.
"I went from a 32-year-old woman that was healthy, having a boyfriend who never really saw me with a hair out of place, to lying in a bed in a diaper," Liz Mitchell told WFAA in September.
Liz fell off a balcony and landed on her head, shattering two vertebrae and suffering a spinal cord injury. She was placed in a medically-induced coma for five days and awoke to the news that she was a quadriplegic. Her boyfriend (now husband), Bryan, was the one who told her about her condition.
"He didn't just say, 'You're paralyzed; you can't walk.' He specifically said, 'One day, we'll move to Waco, we'll get married, and we will have a beautiful life. And it does not matter if you are in a wheelchair. 'Whatever God is going to allow you to get back, we're going to maximize that,'" Liz said that Bryan told her.
She was transferred to the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation where she worked hard and grew frustrated that she could not move her legs. But Bryan never gave up hope, praying for his girlfriend to regain use of her legs and be restored. That prayer was answered on Aug. 29.
"It crushed me. It was really defeating, and I lowered my head and I said a prayer," Bryan said. "It was the most heartfelt prayer I've ever said."
After asking Liz to try and move her legs just one more time, Liz was finally able to do so.
"It was the most miraculous moment I've ever experienced in my entire life," Bryan said.
The two married, and Liz was able to walk down the aisle to her waiting groom. But there was still one more miracle the couple dared hope for: pregnancy and a healthy baby. That miracle came true when Liz discovered she was pregnant with their first child, a baby girl who is due on Thanksgiving Day. The couple plans to name the baby Dorothy Marie, which means "gift of God."
"It's just truly incredible to think I could go from being in a coma to being pregnant," Liz said. "I cannot believe it, it's such a miracle. It seems like a dream, but I'm ready."
