A U.S. Army specialist from Smithdale who was injured in Iraq married his girlfriend in a surprise hospital-room ceremony just weeks after surviving an attack that took both of his legs.
Josh A. Wells, 21, married Brandi M. Clark, 19, in a Nov. 20 ceremony at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Wells was injured in a Nov. 2 attack on the Stryker Light Armored Vehicle he was driving.
The couple dated throughout Wells’ previous deployment to Germany and were engaged in July, with a plan to marry upon his return from an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq.
“When I came home right before we deployed (in July), she came to be with me,” Wells said. “Hanging out, just the personalities that we have together — I was thinking about all that, and it was perfect.”
So when the two were at a friend’s house in July and Brandi went out to the car to listen to the radio, Wells found the courage to propose.
“I was sitting there talking to her so I was already down on one knee,” Wells said.
“I had the ring in my pocket. I had been carrying it about a week waiting for that perfect moment. She started crying and then she immediately got on the phone and called her mom.”
Their plans changed when Wells was hurt three months into his stint in Iraq and was flown to the hospital in Texas.
“The first day she got here, she came with my family and it was the first time seeing me” since the injury, Wells said. “Brandi asked everyone to leave the room and I didn’t know why.”
Wells’ fears were quickly dispelled.
“Brandi got down on one knee and she proposed to me,” he said. “She said this is her way of letting me know, legs or no legs, we had both discussed that we were gonna get married when I got back.”
Yet, even making plans for a wedding at the hospital didn’t go as expected. On the scheduled day, a Tuesday, with Wells’ father, mother, stepmother, little brother and two friends there, the couple found out the priest they’d asked to marry them couldn’t arrive until Saturday.
But when a priest visiting a patient walked through the double doors at the entrance to the hospital, Wells’ father pulled him aside and, without the couple’s knowledge, explained the situation.
Moments later, the priest came around the corner into his room.
“My jaw dropped. If anybody had any doubt that we should be married, that was proof” suggesting otherwise, Wells said.
As for Wells’ recovery, doctors say he could walk on prosthetic legs within a few months, and a benefit account has been set up through Trustmark National Bank to help cover medical expenses.
He and Brandi hope to return to southwest Mississippi when he completes his therapy.
“His attitude is just awesome,” said Delphine McGehee, Wells’ aunt. “He cheers us up when we’re thinking ‘Josh, you’re just my hero, I couldn’t do what you’re doing.’
“We’ve known it his whole life, he’s always upbeat and happy and positive, and he’s very strong and determined. If God had to choose someone who could handle this, he chose the right person.”
Wells said he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“My personal goal is to walk in February,” he said. “I don’t know if I can do that, but that’s my goal.”
HOW TO HELP
A benefit account for Josh Wells has been set up at Trustmark National Bank to help cover Wells’ medical bills. Donations can be made at any Trustmark National Bank branch or sent to the family c/o Delphine McGehee, P.O. Box 54, Liberty, MS 39645.
