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South Carolina couple wed the day after groom fractures vertebrae

On October 18th, Chad Dennis fractured his L1 vertebrae when his car spun out of control on a poorly lit gravel road and flipped four times.

The next day, he got married.

Dennis' car landed upside down in a marsh. He managed to free himself from the water-filled vehicle and, thinking of his soon-to-be-bride Holly Ryffel the entire way, walked a mile and half home from the scene of the crash. When the adrenaline wore off, Dennis started experiencing excruciating back pain.

He could no longer stand or even sit up.

Doctors diagnosed a fractured vertebrae and told him that the wedding would have to be postponed.

Dennie refused to entertain the idea.

"I'm sorry, that's not an option. I'm getting married tomorrow," he told doctors.

Doctors arranged to transport the injured groom to a suite at Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, where the wedding was booked. Dennis called the photographer and wedding videographer and asked them to come to the hotel room. Friends draped a tuxedo over his body. His bride, Ryffel, arrived, dressed in white, the pastor in tow.

"Chad and Holly then spend some time together, while the wedding party walked in to the processional. Guests sat waiting for the ceremony to start, some of them not knowing anything about the accident. The officiant then told everyone the news and the video was played. There were many tears shed watching the video of Chad and Holly say their I Do's just minutes before upstairs," photographer Richard Bell wrote on his blog.

"There wasn't a dry eye in the place," theCHIVE reported.

Later that evening, the bride arrived at the reception alone.

"The bride had to attend her entire reception alone…but she was surrounded by the love of family and friends, which seemed to make everything a little less painful," Dennis' best friend wrote to theCHIVE.

See photographer Richard Bell's beautiful shots from the wedding day here.