ROCKFORD —
The couple were able to follow through on wedding plans today by tying the knot in a small ceremony inside the chapel at SwedishAmerican Hospital. Hillary works as an aide for the hospital’s medical imaging services.
“It’s been canceled twice,” said Mershon’s mother, Christine. “He was supposed to come home Feb. 23. Then he was supposed to come home in March from the hospital for 30 days, but that got pushed back because of his injuries.”
Joseph Mershon proposed on March 6, and the ceremony was held less than three months later so the couple could get hitched before his next scheduled surgery.
“It all happened like a whirlwind,” Hillary Mershon said. “All our parents and family and friends, as soon as we set (the date), they sprung into action.”
On Feb. 19, the explosive device ripped the meniscus in Joseph Mershon’s right knee. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury and suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which causes chronic and progressive pain in his right ankle, Christine said.
Joseph Mershon moves mostly by wheelchair now, but he stood to take his wedding vows.
His next surgery is scheduled for June 22 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and there is still a 50-50 chance he could lose his right leg from the knee down, Hillary Mershon said.
“I’m relieved,” she said. “But there are plenty more hurdles we have to clear. But we will, together, holding hands.”
Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at khaas@rrstar.com or 815-987-1354.
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