On Aug. 9, 2007, Monica Sprague Jorge gave birth to a daughter. Three days later, she was in Massachusetts General Hospital with a mysterious bacterial infection; she survived the infection but lost her arms and legs to amputation.

When Tony Jorge, her fiance at the time, was asked if he considered leaving Monica, he said, "It was never an option to tuck tail and run." They married at the hospital on Oct. 5 as Madalyn, Monica's daughter from her first marriage, watched.