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A man from Florida in the USA recovering from paralysis stood up for the first time this week to pop the question to his girlfriend in a tearful proposal that was captured on camera.
Jacob Newbern, 27, who's been paralysed by a rare medical condition, on Monday asked Mary Batar to be his wife at Orange Park Medical Centre, a day before he was discharged by the hospital, ABC News reports.
Jacob, who has three children with Mary, was diagnosed a month ago with Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the nerves. He experienced the first symptoms of the condition at the time, while out Mary and their three daughters.
"He was walking upstairs carrying the girls and said he almost collapsed because his legs started to feel like Jell-o and pins and needles. He also wasn't able to use the restroom," Mary wrote on the Go Fund Me page started for the family.
Jacob told television show Good Morning America that Mary was overjoyed about his surprise proposal.
"She was shocked. It was my very first time standing up completely by myself. I'm surprised she didn't drop down to the floor, she was so excited," he said.
Neurologist Dr Ronnie Bond told him that recovery could take a long time, but that only motivated him to work harder.
"I looked Dr Bond in his eyes and I said, 'I plan on walking in two months'," Jacob recalled.
"I was 100% dedicated," he added.
The specialist says Jacob has made remarkable progress resisting the disease.
"He was progressing way more than I would expect. With this disease it can take months before there's any type of recovery," Dr Bond said.
Watch the video here:
Sources: ABC News, Good Morning America, Metro
