Miracle Man defies doctors to marry sweetheart
Brian Bellew, dubbed the Miracle Man by doctors, was given just 24 hours to live after a vicious assault left him fighting for his life.
But his fiancee, Sharon McCann, refused to give up hope and would not allow doctors to switch off his life support machine.
"I wasn't prepared to lose the love of my life," said Sharon, 36, as she prepared to tie the knot with 50-year-old Brian at Dundalk Registry Office.
"I always felt that a miracle might happen and it did."
Wearing an ivory dress and a long veil, she was greeted by her husband and 18 close family members at the registry office.
"One of the best memories of the day was seeing my husband waiting for me at the top table in the registry office.
"He looked fantastic and still as young and as youthful as he did when I first met him."
Speaking later at the wedding reception in the Headford Arms in Kells, Co Meath, a delighted Sharon said: "We are having a fantastic day. I've waited 20 years for this."
Her husband was equally thrilled. "She looks stunning," he said.
"We've come a long way together and now we can look forward to living a happy life together. I'm a lucky man."
A fanatical Manchester United supporter, Brian said: "I usually just wear jeans and a t-shirt but today I'm dressed to kill."
Sharon's mother, Marie, said it was a very emotional day as she recalled the nightmare that began when Brian was assaulted on Magdaline Street in Drogheda, Co Louth. The attack happened in the early hours of Christmas morning 2003 as he was returning home from a night out with friends.
Sharon is a nurse and she was returning from night duty when she found him lying on the street near their home.
With severe head injuries, he was rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where Sharon worked, where doctors pronounced him clinically dead.
"In the afternoon of Christmas Day doctors told Sharon there was no hope of him recovering and advised her to switch off the machine that was keeping him alive. They even asked her to donate his organs, but she refused and kept hoping he would recover."
Miraculously, Brian defied medical opinion and awoke from a six-week coma.
Sharon took a year off to nurse him back to health.
"Everyone is absolutely delighted," said Mrs McCann. "It's a tiring day for him, too, of course, because he is not totally 100% yet. But he is getting better every day with Sharon's help and they are very much in love."
