Wedding on hold after groom gets hurt in East Bay car crash
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - An East Bay couple’s wedding is on hold after the groom-to-be gets hit by a truck on his way home from work.
"They cut open the side of my leg right here, put a plate in there, and then they put eight screws," Taylor Stevens of San Leandro explained to KTVU.
Stevens is in a lot of pain after a major car accident just weeks before his wedding.
"All I could think about was my fiancé, my mom, my dad," said Stevens.
The 24-year-old’s Chevy truck was left mangled after he briefly turned around to see loose cargo in the back of his truck and rear-ended a big rig on Highway 24 in Lafayette on Tuesday night.
"So unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to walk down the aisle like that, which is a bummer," said Stevens, who was planning to get hitched on October 13 to his fiancé Chelsea Fiero.
"Oh God. It was a lot of different emotions," said Fiero. "Like, I’m so glad you’re alive. I also want to beat you up right now. I could care less about the wedding now. I just want to get him back on his feet."
Stevens was released from John Muir in Walnut Creek on Friday night where he underwent surgery to repair a broken leg and broken heel.
After at least four months of physical therapy, he is expected to make a full recovery, and the traumatic experience brought them closer together.
"I don’t even think it was possible, but I love him even more," said Fiero. "Like, you are just my precious little baby."
"I believe everybody’s here for a reason, and we all have a purpose," said Stevens. "Maybe it wasn’t my time."
As they move forward together, the couple is hoping they can both walk down the aisle sometime next year.
Stevens will be unable to return to work for several months at his field manager job for Apollo Roofing Company, so there is a Go Fund Me campaign to help cover his expenses.