14 DAY TRIAL // It is said that true love conquers all, but when faced with difficult situations, even love can let you down. This was not the case for Larissa and Ian Murphy.
Even though they were dating for just 10 months when Ian's horrific accident occurred, leaving him with a debilitating brain injury, the couple stayed strong. They got married and chose to tell the world their heart-warming story.
Ian and Larissa met in college in 2005 and “had a blast” for 10 months, enjoying what many could describe as a perfect relationship. Like any other young couple in love, they made plans and started to get ready for the next step, their wedding.
But life has its challenges, and one day, Larissa got a call informing her that Ian had been in a car accident. All she hopped for was that he wouldn't have a brain injury. After several hours of waiting at the hospital, she found out that Ian had suffered a traumatic brain injury.
The accident left Ian with little to no communication abilities but, in time, he started to recover some of the functions he lost. Larissa moved in with Ian and his parents after the accident, getting involved in his therapy and doing the best she could to help her boyfriend get through the incredibly difficult period.
Even though he couldn't speak or eat, they continued to go out on dates, and Larissa would tell him all kinds of stuff, knowing that he could at least hear her.
“I knew where he was so after he couldn’t talk, that helped me so much. I knew that he loved me,” she says. “Looking back, it’s weird because he couldn’t talk and he couldn’t eat, so we probably looked like complete weirdos when we went on dates. But we had a blast and I just talked to him all the time.”
Ian's condition improved slowly and Larissa started to see marriage as a possibility again. In the short documentary that tells the story of the two, Larissa says, “if he could communicate with me, then we could have a marriage knowing it would be really different but as long as Ian could talk to me we could make it work.”
However, the couple's problems did not end there. While Ian was recovering, his father was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed away before getting to see the two get married. Ian's father's sickness pushed Larissa into considering even more the idea of marrying Ian.
So, when he got better, Larissa took him to a judge in order to approve their marriage, Ian not being able to make decisions on his own. The judge signed off on it.
According to the Daily Mail, the judge even told Larissa that the two of them exemplify what love was all about. “I believe that marriage will not only benefit you both but our community and hope that everyone in this city could see your love for one another,” he told her.
The couple documented their relationship in a short video showing how love really conquers all. Larissa admits it was not easy; in fact, it was extremely hard to see all her dreams scattered away when she was only 20. Looking back at everything that happened she says, “it was so very simple: we love each other.”
