'I will walk at my wedding': Three years after a devastating accident, this woman walked down the aisle
After being paralyzed in a car accident in 2020, Brianna Seewald was determined to walk on her wedding day
On a sunny autumn afternoon, Brianna Seewald finally lived her dream of walking down the aisle — something that four years ago seemed impossible.
Wearing a glittering white dress, leg braces and a pair of white sneakers, Seewald made her way to the altar to join her now-husband Ryan Borkowsky. It was a moment built on years of determination and persistence.
On August 20th, 2020, Seewald suffered catastrophic injuries — fracturing her spine and breaking her neck — when her car collided with a vehicle crossing a rural Manitoba highway.
"I didn't even have time to take my foot off the gas before I realized 'oh my God, I'm I'm going to hit him'," said Seewald.
'You don't have to stay'
The accident left her partially paralyzed from the neck down. In the hospital, she started to consider what her future would look like. When Borkowsky rushed to her side, she told him that he didn't have to stay with her.
"I remember telling him very clearly: Ryan, you don't have to stay to take care of me. Do not stay with me out of obligation," said Seewald.
Days later, at her hospital bedside, Borkowsky proposed.
"Ryan promised me a lifetime without even knowing what our future would look like at that point. He loved me at my worst. And he honoured 'in sickness and in health' long before we would meet at our wedding altar."
She made two promises to Borkowsky in that moment: to marry him and to do whatever it takes to walk down the aisle on their wedding day.
In their three years of engagement, Seewald has documented her experiences on TikTok. Whether it's moments of adjustment to life using a wheelchair, scenes from physiotherapy, or updates on wedding planning — she puts everything out there with a sense of vulnerability and humour.
All of this culminated in her wedding day, and her commitment to walking down the aisle to meet her partner.
"Me and my mom and dad have been practicing in my home and out of sight," said Seewald a few days before her wedding.
"Ryan's never seen this, so this is a total surprise."
A promise and a dream fulfilled
Although she was determined to walk down the aisle, Seewald knows that her journey may be different than that of other wheelchair users.
"There's nothing wrong with being a wheelchair bride. I want to make that very important [point]. There was nothing wrong with that," said Seewald.
"I wasn't supposed to have to plan a wedding around accessibility. And for this one moment, I wanted to have a piece of my wedding the way that it should have been. And I want to be at eye level with my future husband when that moment happens."
So, on a crisp autumn day, supported by her parents on either side, Seewald fulfilled her promise to Borkowsky and walked down the aisle to meet him.
And she didn't just walk at her wedding: she also danced.
With files from Bridget Forbes