Dallas Wiens was one of the first Americans to receive a full face transplant, needed after a bizarre construction accident in 2008. Saturday, he married Jamie Nash, a woman he met in a burn victims’ support group.

Wiens, from Fort Worth, came in contact with high voltage power lines that caused so much damage, he had no face left. After multiple surgeries, doctors were able to transplant a new face, complete with muscles, skin and facial hair.

Nash, from Garland, suffered her injuries in a fiery car crash that nearly took her life in 2010 in Ennis. Trapped inside her burning car, she was burned on her back, legs and hands.

The couple got engaged this past fall and exchanged wedding vows on Saturday at the same church in Fort Worth where Wiens had been working when he was injured. The ceremony was followed by a reception to which their respective doctors and nurses were invited.

Through a support group for burn victims held at Parkland Hospital, the two met. Nash recalls being drawn to Wiens. She knew from looking at him across the room that there was something special about Dallas.

For his part, Wiens wasn’t interested initially. He had given up on love and being in a relationship and says he didn’t want any part of being in one. That was until Christmas Eve when they sat up talking all night and arranged their first date.

According to Dallas, it was a simple dinner and a movie but for him that was all it took. Both say they have been together every day since that first date.

Nash says she jokingly told Wiens she knew it was love because hadn’t gotten tired of him yet. Together the couple plans to leave the trauma of the pasts behind them. Wiens sees no reason to dwell on it and Nash contends the past burned in the fire and that’s where it should stay.

Together the couple helps balance one another out. Nash’s hands were severely damaged in the fire where Wiens are fine. He lost his sight as a result of his accident but she can see perfectly well.

They see their love story as one of true love and inspiration for others. If love can come to these two people, then it can come to anyone according to Nash.

Passions are high at the Olympics and the romances that spark there are often fleeting but what happens once the media goes home and medals are packed away? A few romances have stood the test of time and weathered the flurry of attention that strikes for a few weeks every four years and then vanishes.

Olympic contenders Matt Emmons and Katy Kurkova first met at the Athens Olympics in 2004 while at a beer garden. Both were romantically involved with others but Katy wanted to offer him her support after he gave a disappointing performance at the 50-meter rifle position finals. Emmons inadvertently fired at the wrong target which cost him a chance for the gold and left him in 8^th place. Katy told him how sorry she was and that to her, he was the champion.

Though the pair felt a romantic spark at the time, neither acted on it. Katy admitted she fell in love and that something clicked between them. A year later, Matt’s coach decided to add a training camp for female shooters to the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Located in Colorado Springs, the move was designed to give the flagging women’s program a boost.

Following the 2004 Olympics, Katy, a U.S. citizen who competed for the Czech Republic, contemplated retirement. She was overwhelmed by the media attention she received by being a medalist for such a small country. She was only 20 at the time and felt it was too much to handle. Katy reluctantly decided to give it another go and went to the training camp.

After watching Katy practice, Matt was able to help restore her confidence. He assured her she hadn’t lost any of her skill or natural ability. In turn, Katy was inspired by watching Matt train for the three-position rifle which he ultimately won the bronze medal for at this year’s Olympics in London. She admired his passion and that admiration and passion sparked a romance. Eight years after their first encounter, the couple is married and the proud parents of 2 year old Julia.

Rifle shooters Jamie Gray and Army Marksmanship Unit shooter Staff Sgt. Hank Gray married in September of 2011 but had met long before at the Colorado Springs Training Center. Their first meeting happened in 2002 at camp but didn’t really click until the 2004 ISSF World Cup in Sydney.

Jamie said it helped having someone who understood the rigors of the sport and the training program, someone who knew the lifestyle needed to make a successful run for the gold. Jamie took home the gold medal this year in the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position.

And cross sport romances happen, too. Triathlete Hunter Kemper met his future wife, Valerie, a member of the U.S. volleyball team, while the two trained for their respective sports for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. When Valerie was named an alternate and therefore not eligible to travel to Sydney with the team, Hunter sprang into action. He chose that day to ask her out and they went on their first date together. He was attentive and supportive, just what she needed in the moment. The couple married and now has three sons.

Belinda Stevenson and her family were dealt two harsh blows. First, the beloved patriarch of the family, Johnny Brooks “Pops” Stevenson died in February of this year. Then, in May, a strong storm took the family’s fence down, allowing “Pops’” beloved Savannah to wander off. The family was heartbroken without their special reminder of the man they loved and missed so much around.

Son Terrell Stevenson, 24, drove from one animal shelter to the next searching for the 3-year old husky. Though he looked frequently, he just couldn’t find her. Then one day three weeks later, he spotted her familiar smile on a Facebook page for Carpathia Paws, an animal rescue. They were trying to find the owners or new owners so the dog wouldn’t have to be put down.

By the time the Stevenson’s contacted Carpathia Paws, their beloved Savannah had been placed with Julie Ogden in West Wood, N.J. She had taken her place with her new owners, sleeping on the foot of the bed, from the very first night and her new family adored her. They could tell she had come from a good home.

Terrell sought out Ogden on Facebook. Ogden agreed to bring Savannah to Georgia in an effort to raise awareness about shelter animals and their fate when their owners cannot be found.

She rolled into town in a caravan of cars, trucks and vans escorted by a dozen or so motorcycles driven by members of the bike group that had bestowed Pops with his nickname. Belinda knelt down and called the dog, which was in minutes surrounded by her first family. It was like getting g a little bit of Pops back.

The loss of Pops and Savannah gave the family a new purpose.

Terrell has decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. He is in the Army, having completed two tours in Iraq. He created the programs for his father’s funeral and relied on his graphics arts background. Now he is enrolled in a graphic arts program at the Savannah College of Art and Design where he will put his gift to work – inspired by Savannah and his dad.

 

As for Belinda, she saw the events with Savannah as her cue to become more involved in caring for animals, no matter what she has to do. Thanks to Ogden and an 800 mile road trip she made, the family has been reunited with their living reminder of Pops and has found new purpose.

 

Black Friday is a day that many shopaholics praise for shopping bargains. However, a couple in Hurst, Texas credits their upcoming nuptials to a chance meeting in line at a Target store on a Black Friday morning three years ago.

Bride and groom-to-be Trevor MacDonald and Jesse Pierfelice were in line next to each other that rainy and cold November morning in front of a Target store in Hurst waiting for a chance to bargain shop. When Pierfelice’s mother dropped her off and she found herself standing behind MacDonald, she first wasn’t sure she liked the guy in line next to her. She told her mom that he looked like a bum and was a bit worried.

However, it turned out that instead, MacDonald was a college student and the two started up a conversation to pass the next few hours until the store opened up for the early morning Black Friday sale. When 6 am finally rolled around, the two were still talking and decided to get each other’s phone numbers.

Sure enough, the two texted and talked to each other the very next morning and so began a courtship over the next two years until MacDonald proposed. Of course, the couple headed over to their Target store where they had met and took engagement pictures to celebrate!

Now, they are getting married this year and say that finding each other on that cold Black Friday morning was the best possible Black Friday bargain that either could ever have found!