Texas newlyweds went boogie boarding after ‘dream’ Maui wedding — then a wave crashed
A destination beach wedding on Maui was their dream, but four days later, when a large wave threw Nikki Lewis to the ground, their lives together took a different “forever” turn.
Lewis, 34, is partially paralyzed after her neck was broken in two places when the wave caught her while she was boogie boarding with her new husband, Will, on Sept. 12, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up by friends and family.
If happened just four days after the couple from Prosper, just north of Dallas, took their vows.
“Her fairytale wedding trip has turned into a horrible nightmare for herself, her new husband, their children and families,” the GoFundMe says.
Ja’Mikal Moorer, a close friend of the couple’s, was with Will and Nikki on the boogie boarding trip, according to KITV.
“If seemed like the wave was just bigger than me standing up, and I’m 6 feet tall, so it just engulfed her,” Moorer told the station. “Kind of landed on top of her and nose dived her into the sand. Big Beach has kind of a steep drop into the water, so it nose dived her into that.”
An off-duty paramedic was vacationing at the same beach when it happened, WFAA reported, and took off for Nikki when he saw her lying on the ground.
“He knew exactly what to do,” Moorer told the station. “He stabilized her neck, which is the reason they say she’s doing so well right now.”
She was taken via Careflight to a hospital in Honolulu, where the couple have been regrouping since the accident, according to HNN.
Video posted to the public Facebook group “Nikki’s Hope” shows that she is able to talk and feed herself, almost two weeks after the wave slammed her to the ground. She sings with her nurses and celebrates little things like the ability to lift a fork to her mouth and brush her own teeth.
“I was convinced day one of the accident my beautiful wife wouldn’t walk again,” Will wrote on Facebook on Thursday from the hospital. “I was wrong! Mrs. Miracle! She sat up!”
Now the couple want to come home to North Texas, but arranging travel for Nikki is costly. Her family and friends in Texas have organized a fundraiser event in Carrollton, Texas, scheduled for Sept. 30.
“I can’t wait for the day we can be back home,” Will wrote Sunday.
As of Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe in NIkki’s name has raised more than $42,000 of its $100,000 goal. “The medical bills are growing each day and will be unimaginably extensive very quickly,” it reads.