& DEVOTION THAT’LL MELT YOUR HEART Chris spent first date in a coma, now we’re getting wed

his best friend and he wanted to spend his life with me. I was crying saying ‘no, no, no’ because I was embarrassed. Chris said, ‘you don’t mean no, you mean yes’. And I did.”

Chris is clearly in awe of his beautiful fiancée as she speaks. He says: “It’s taken a very long time to come to terms with what has happened and some days are darker than others. But I would never have made it if it wasn’t for Fay. We’ve been through some really hard times, and I can say from experience that going through a life-changing accident really does show who is there for you.

“There were times when I wanted to give up, but Fay has never allowed it. She has supported me in anything and everything I want to be, albeit with a bit of hesitation at times.”

Record

In May, they took on a challenge to climb Mount Snowdon with paraplegic adrenaline junkie Shaun Gash and pal Gavin Levitt to raise money for a young woman who suffered spinal injuries after a fall. It took the group just two hours and 41 minutes to reach the top, a world record for wheelchair users. And Fay was in the 12-strong team who dragged Chris the last few feet. Fay says: “It was amazing. Chris wheeled himself up but was also hauled by a kind of husky formation with humans. “I’m so used to looking after him I found it quite hard to step back. The team was pulling Chris and I was thinking ‘ be careful, that’s my husband-to-be you’re hauling up the side of a mountain’.”

Chris says: “The Mount Snowdon climb was amazing. I will now push more boundaries.

“Life doesn’t stop until you stop living it and I can’t wait to get married.”

That will happen in August – and the remarkable couple are planning a family in the future.

Fay says: “Chris has overcome so much more than people know. I can’t wait to spend my life with him and support him i n more crazy adventures.”

The couple are asking people to donate to Shaun Gash’s 20Twenty Challenge, to raise money for 20 different causes. To find out more log on to 20twentychallenge.org.uk.

TO donate visit gofundme.com/ 2020-changing-20-lives-in-20-days