A 27-year-old North Texas man, who was one of the first to receive a full face transplant in the US, has married another burn patient, transforming their pain into bliss.
Dallas Wiens married Jamie Nash, 29, yesterday at a Texas church where a severe electrical accident destroyed his face and eyesight in 2008 as he was making repairs to a window, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Nash was burned over 70 per cent of her body in a car accident in June 2010. Her car erupted in flames, and she was trapped. She was severely burned on her hands, back and legs.
"I am blessed beyond measure that you have chosen me, and I love you with all of my heart," Wiens told Nash as they clasped hands in front of more than 150 people at Ridglea Baptist Church.
"Things happened that I didn't think ever could be possible for me, and you made them possible," Nash said. "You gave me hope, and you gave me tender love that I will always treasure."
The couple became engaged last fall after meeting at a support group for burn patients.
This is the second marriage for both Wiens, and Nash. Wiens has a 5-year-old daughter. Nash has two children - a 10-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, the report said.
Wiens, who has undergone more than 30 surgeries to restore function and form to his face, said he was not interested -- at first.
"I had sworn off love and relationships," he said. "I had no desire to be in one whatsoever."
Then, on Christmas Eve, they talked all night and set up a date.
"We went to dinner and a movie, and that's all she wrote," he was quoted as saying by NBCNews.Com reported.
The two said they have been together every day since.
"I told him it's got to be love, because I'm not sick of you," Nash joked. "I know I've never felt more real than this."
The couple plans to put their pasts behind them.
"There's no reason to dwell on the past," he said.
"It's dead and gone," she added. "It burned in the fire."
They said they make the perfect couple and help balance each other.
Her hands, for example, were severely injured in her accident. His are fine.
She can see. He lost his eyesight in the accident.
"It's a story of hope, a story of true survivors," Nash said.
Today Nash speaks at schools and churches about the perils of texting while driving.
