Bees Creek’s Leonnee and Darren Schiller miracle wedding at Berry Springs Tavern after crash
They were struck by a car, suffered horror injuries and lost their beloved pet dogs. Now, this couple has fought back to have their special day.
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Leonnee Schiller was left fighting for her life after being struck by a car in February but has gone on to defy all odds to walk down the aisle in her “dream” wedding.
After suffering a fractured spine, neck and right leg, Mrs Schiller has spent the past eight months since the accident determined to walk down the aisle unassisted.
“I just wanted to walk down the aisle and I did without any walking frames or braces or bandages on, so there was nothing from the surgery and that day was just so amazing,” she said.
Mrs Schiller and her husband, Darren, invited their friends and family, with some travelling from interstate, to the Berry Springs Tavern to celebrate her 50th birthday, surprising them with the country-themed wedding.
“They were so overjoyed and it just made the day so much more special because we figured if our family was spending that kind of money to celebrate me surviving, then let’s get married,” she said.
“You couldn’t wipe the smile off the crowd’s face because everyone was just like, ‘this pair have come so far and now we get to be part of this special day’.”
The tavern also shares a special place in the couple’s hearts as the place they shared their first kiss, making it the perfect spot to share their first as husband and wife.
The Bees Creek couple were both injured in the crash which killed their beloved dogs, Gizmo and Acada.
Mrs Schiller was in a coma for six days and told she was lucky to be alive.
She was one millimetre from being quadriplegic or on a ventilator, but was determined to push through.
“I had a quarter weight bearing fracture on my right leg and at the time didn’t know if I would be able to stand on it,” she said.
“When we found out that I could actually put weight on it – there was no stopping me.”
Born more than two months premature, Mrs Schiller said she has always had a fighting spirit and “definitely wasn’t leaving before my time”.
She spent eight weeks in the hospital and was determined to regain her independence, learning how to brush her teeth, hair and dress herself again while in a full body brace.
“You gotta have the right mindset. I could have laid there and felt sorry for myself but everyday I just got up and kept moving,” she said.
“I got myself into a routine, learning how to brush my teeth again, brush my hair, I don’t know how many times I got toothpaste in Darren’s face and I worked out how to use a grabby stick you use for rubbish to pull up my clothes.”
She also pushed herself to walk as far as she could each day, celebrating each milestone along the way.
“We celebrated the first 10 metres and then the first 60 metres and first kilometre and by the end of the eight weeks I was walking 15 kilometres a day which was about 20,000 steps,” she said.
Thanks to her hard work, Mrs Schiller was able to return home in time to celebrate her granddaughter Ariya’s second birthday and has gone on to walk in events such as the City2Surf.
The couple now have a Koolie/Border Collie/Blue Stumpy puppy called Rustee – the same breeds as Gizmo and Acada – and hope to travel overseas to Vietnam and Bali to celebrate their honeymoon next year.
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Originally published as Bees Creek’s Leonnee and Darren Schiller miracle wedding at Berry Springs Tavern after crash
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