Doctors said newly wed Nikki Lewis would likely never walk again after a boogie boarding accident in Hawaii. But the young bride defied the odds and is now expecting a child.
Nightmare accident turns into a miracle
They both have vivid memories of the instant their lives changed, but those memories come from very different perspectives. Nikki Lewis remembers the huge wave knocking her down.
She remembers her body feeling like âdead weight,â and being unsure why she couldnât move her legs or arms. She remembers telling herself not to inhale any water. And she remembers the panicked look on her new husbandâs face.
Will Lewis remembers watching his bride of four days get swallowed up by the ocean and feeling terror as she didnât resurface. He remembers running to her and instantly recognizing sheâd hurt her neck.
He remembers the paramedic who just happened to be vacationing on the same beach helping him rescue Nikki from the water, carefully placing her on the beach. The newlyweds both knew in that moment it would take a miracle to regain normalcy. But they didnât know how many miracles they might be granted.
âThe minute that wave hit me all these emotions went through me. I wondered what was going to happen to everybody else around me,â Nikki said.
Remember the North Texas bride paralyzed four days after her dream wedding in Maui? Nikki Lewis is back in Dallas & you wonât believe her recovery. Watch #WFAA at 10. #NikkiStrong #NikkisHope pic.twitter.com/Vtssff0A9i
— Teresa Woodard (@twoodard8) October 13, 2018
Boogie boarding accident leaves new bride paralyzed
She thought of her daughter and son back home in Texas. Will has said he wondered why it didnât happen to him. Within hours, they had been flown from the island of Maui, where the accident happened, to Honolulu.
Scans showed Nikki broke her neck in three places. A surgeon warned Will his bride would likely be confined to a bed for the rest of her life. But that surgeon didnât know Nikki the way Will knows her.
Within days she began to move her fingers and shortly after that she could sit up and feed herself. She flew home to Dallas and began rehab just weeks after the accident.
Their wedding was Sept. 8, 2018. She broke her neck Sept. 12, 2018. In the two and a half years that have passed, Nikki has pushed herself hard during rehabilitation.
Despite her seemingly miraculous recovery, there was a yearning deep inside of her for a new purpose. But she wasnât even sure if what she wanted was medically possible. Multiple doctors promised her it was, and Nikki is now just weeks away from fulfilling her dream.
Sheâs about to become a mother again. Nikki is due to give birth to a baby girl in May.
âIn my own personal way this is a miracle for me,â she said.
The couple didnât begin trying to get pregnant until doctors had given them â100 percent support,â Nikki said.
And it happened instantly once they started trying.
âI didnât think she was âfertile Myrtleâ and with one try sheâd get pregnant. I mean it was no fun!â Will said, laughing.
The first trimester was difficult because Nikki was dealing with the expected discomforts of pregnancy, like nausea and fatigue, and the excruciating pain of a spinal cord injury.
She stopped taking most of her prescription medications to protect the baby, so she has battled intense nerve discomfort and uncontrollable spasms. Will says seeing her in pain was difficult, but Nikki was only worried about their daughter.
âI was just worried the baby could feel the pain,â Nikki said.
Things have gotten even more difficult in the last few weeks, she said, as her belly has swollen. Itâs thrown off her weight distribution and made her balance even worse, so sheâs relying almost exclusively on a walker or her wheelchair.
She admits she is nervous about the delivery. Both have children from previous relationships, so Nikki has given birth before.
âBut I donât know what to expect now,â she said.
âWhen my body feels pain, like if I stub my toe or something, the response that I get is spasms and twitches and I canât control those.â
Doctors have assured her the pregnancy is proceeding as normal and they plan to induce in early May.
The couple recently settled on a name: Makena Rose, named for Makena Beach on Maui, where they got married.