Love At First Sight
Matt and Danielle Davis met in their early twenties and quickly fell in love with each other. They married in late 2010 in Forsyth, Georgia, and began planning their life and future together.
A tragic turn of events soon changed their plans, though. This is their story of trauma, recovery, and rebuilding, and it starts with the beautiful couple falling in love on the next slide.
Danielle and Matt met in May 2010 and began dating in September.
They Were Happy Newlyweds
They married in December 2010 and spent over half a year together living their normal lives as newlyweds.
A Nearly Fatal Accident
They were that sure of their love and commitment, so it's no surprise how Danielle handled the traumatic situation that was yet to come.
In July 2011, Matt crashed into an illegally parked car on the interstate while riding his motorcycle.
One In Ten Odds
He was taken to a hospital and put on life support.
A team of doctors told Danielle that they'd given Matt a 10 percent chance of recovery.
A Very Small Chance
They told her that they recommended taking him off life support.
He'd broken several bones and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Testing The Odds
Even when people are able to beat these odds, they're usually left entirely dependent on caregivers.
Danielle listened to the doctor's suggestions, but ultimately chose to test those odds.
Care Around The Clock
Matt was discharged and went to stay at home under constant supervision.
Matt was given a feeding tube and wasn't able to visit the restroom or shower by himself. Danielle and her mother were also tasked with giving over 20 medications to Matt each day.
Opening His Eyes A Month Later
Then everything changed...
A month after leaving the hospital, Matt opened his eyes.
Speaking For The First Time Again
He began moving his lips, too, and seemed to be processing the environment around him.
One day during his routine physical therapy, Matt started making whispering sounds.
Regaining Speech And Strength
When he was finally able to speak, he told Danielle, "I'm trying!"
By His Side Through Everything
As he began working on developing his speech and strength, it became clear that Matt had lost many memories and wasn't so sure of his surroundings.
Danielle helped her husband make it through his doctor's appointments and physical therapy.
Physical, Speech, And Occupational Therapists
She even took part in plenty of the exercise right next to him.
“We fought to get him back in rehab,” said Danielle.
Learning To Walk Again
“There he worked with physical, speech and occupational therapists learning the basics.” After three months, Matt had made major improvements.
Within time, Matt could hold conversations and share jokes, enjoy music, eat, and drink by himself.
Hitting A Wall
He learned to walk with help from physical therapists.
It had been three and a half years since his accident when Matt's insurance company began refusing to pay for ongoing treatments.
Getting Funded
Danielle quickly opened up a GoFundMe campaign.
Danielle and Matt were able to raise nearly a hundred thousand dollars to help pay for five years of physical therapy.
Helping Around The House
This made a huge difference in his prognosis.
Even simple household chores were challenging at first, but Matt began getting better.
Memories Coming Back
"He used to do this sitting down," Danielle wrote with this photo.
"He remembered me today," she wrote in a caption with this photo. She explained how Matt described a specific memory in detail.
#DitchTheChair
"This is the first and only memory he has of me from before the accident," she said.
As time went on, Danielle began to use hashtags like #DitchTheChair.
Channeling Frustration Into Fitness
Matt started to regain his strength and balance through many hours of hard work.
Danielle began hitting the gym to alleviate stress, too.
Walking With Crutches
"When life deals you the worst, you put it on a bar and throw it around," she captioned this photo.
Matt eventually learned to walk with crutches. "So fast it's ridiculous!" Danielle wrote when she shared this Instagram photo.
First CrossFit Class
"I'm almost not even worried!"
"Matt took his first CrossFit class today!" Danielle wrote.
Still Knowing When To Take It Easy
"Five years ago we were told he would be a vegetable for life, now he's 15 days with no wheelchair and doing CrossFit!"
"We took the wheelchair out for the first time in 7 months," Danielle wrote, "because I wanted to. Because I'm tired.
Now, Every Little Thing Counts
Nothing's wrong. It's just easier and sometimes easier is better."
"Everything counts when you were never supposed to do anything again," Danielle wrote with this photo.
Real Life, Acceptance, And Recovery
As the years passed by, the couple was able to do more and more together, like vacations and family outings.
"The truth is, he's got a brain injury and I have PTSD. There's trauma in us," she wrote on Instagram.
"So we're just gonna be a little screwed up and see where that gets us."