Vietnam Veteran once paralyzed walks to wed

Love’s ‘double delight’
Longtime couple weds at rehabilitation center that aided groom
Boston Globe
By Derek J. Anderson
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
JULY 25, 2014

When Dennis O’Brien was admitted to a rehabilitation center in Roslindale six weeks ago, he was caught in a nightmare: diagnosed with a rare disorder and paralyzed from the neck down.

But on Thursday afternoon, life took a dramatic turn for the 66-year-old Vietnam veteran. O’Brien, able to walk now and standing with only a cane in the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, married his longtime girlfriend Dorothy K. Smith in front of family, friends, and staff.

“It was a double delight,” said O’Brien, who was discharged the same day. “We had a marriage today, and I got to walk out the door when we were finished.”

O’Brien was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack the nerves.
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