Since a fateful night in June 2016, life for Kaitlyn and Matt Wetherbee has been an emotional roller coaster fraught with inconceivable challenges and personal triumphs.
On that night, Matt suffered a catastrophic injury from a headfirst fall into agym wall while playing league basketball with friends. A freak accident that would leave him paralyzed from the shoulders down.
After eight years of ups and downs, the couple celebrates their biggest triumph to date, just in time for Father's Day.
We meet Matt and Kaitlyn for the first time
It has been six years since the world fell in love with the couple as they kept a promise to each other to run the Boston Marathon together. Kaitlyn pushed Matt along the hilly and tough marathon route and across the finish line in a three-wheeled racing chair. A crowd of friends, family and strangers gathered to join in, watch, and cheer from the sideline as the two ran the route a week before the marathon in 2018. They did not qualify to run in the actual marathon as six duo teams, the maximum allowed, had already signed up.
The couple didn't take no for an answer and completed the course a week ahead of the race.
The news media captured every moment of their joy and tears at the finish line.
Story continues below photo gallery.
The marathon route, full of uphill and winding roads with a rewarding finish line, seems the perfect metaphor for the couple's life together.
Life, Kaitlyn said, has been "challenging, but rewarding. This is definitely not the life I ever thought we would have, nor would I choose it for either of us. But it's the hand we were dealt, so we are figuring it out." She said both look at "life alot differently now. Things that we thoughtmattered, justdon't. Thingsthat we used to fight about, we laugh about now. So in this big curse, there have been some blessings."
They cherish the time they have together a lot more, Kaitlyn said. " But wedefinitely have to make time to spend time together just thetwo of us,because there isusually a caregiver present during the day and at night beforebed."
Life after the Boston Marathon
Since the marathon, there have been more hills and mountains in their paths, but Matt and Kaitlyn have climbed them, experiencing many joyous moments and celebrations along the way.
Months after the marathon, Matt proposed and Kaitlyn said yes.
The two married in an outdoor ceremony surrounded by friends and family. Matt surprised Kaitlyn by standing during the ceremony with help from his groomsmen and specialized electric wheelchair.
Another surprise came in March, on Kaitlyn's 36th birthday, when she cut into her birthday cake revealing blue icing and the sex of the baby she is carrying.
Life since they first met at the Jersey Shore
Matt, a native of Massachusetts, and Kaitlyn (Kiely) a graduate of Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan in New Jersey, met at the Jersey Shore on Memorial Day weekend in 2011. The two eventually moved to Boston.
Matt had planned to propose in 2016, but the life-altering accident threw a wrench into that plan.
He officially proposed two years later during Memorial Day weekend. The proposal was perfect and the couple planned to marry during Memorial Day weekend in 2020.
In 2018 the couple and their "pride and joy" service dog, a golden retriever named Seven, moved from Boston to Louisville, Kentucky so Matt could take part in a clinical trial at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute. He had surgery to implant an epidural stimulator with 16 electrodes up his spine. The surgery aims to help restore Matt's movement, function and sensation.
Though he cannot do things functionally for himself at home, Kaitlyn said that in therapy with the stimulator on, he can stand for two hours at a time with just assistance at his hips. The surgery has "also helped his blood pressure and spasms immensely," she said.
Matt founded and runs the MW Fund, an organization that raises money and helps provide financial assistance for spinal cord injury rehabilitation not covered by insurance. It also supports further research initiatives.
Matt runs the fund and the fundraisers, including organizing golf outings with the aid of special technology.
"I use my computer with a head mouse. I put a little reflective dot on glasses that have no lens, they just act as a vehicle to stick the reflective dot on. The dot reflects off of a camera on top of the computer so when I move my head it moves the mouse," Matt said. When he wants to click something, he hovers over it without movement for a second, and it clicks automatically.
"I use a combination of this and a voice control setting to type. There's also an on-screen keyboard that comes standard with most computers now that allows me to make edits that way with the mouse," Matt said.
The couple had settled into their lives and things were going smoothly for a bit, then COVID-19 happened.
Their wedding plans for Memorial Day weekend 2020 were postponed and the couple retreated to a family member's home in Virginia to best protect Matt from the pandemic. "When COVID first broke out, we were scared given Matt's condition," Kaitlyn said. They lived with her father and stepmother, who helped care for Matt, for two months.
The couple eventually returned to Louisville, where they bought a home in the Hurstbourne neighborhood and equipped it to meet Matt's needs.
Kaitlyn has a career as a speech language pathologist and has said it's important for her and Matt to have a special husband-and-wife relationship and not one of patient and caretaker. She said health care aides help Matt during the day until bedtime.
"We live on a golf course and have a pool, so we are pretty happy here for now," Kaitlyn said.
Expecting a baby
The couple married in 2021 and hoped to start a family soon after. It was another uphill climb, as getting pregnant via in-vitro fertilization or IVF was fraught with bad news, many tears and some medical procedures for Kaitlyn.
In 2022 the couple started the IVF process and doctors were able to retrieve two eggs, only one of which was viable. With only one embryo and ready for the next step, the couple learned there were some issues with Kaitlyn's endometrium lining.
"The doctor told me that I might want to start considering a gestational carrier. It was pretty heartbreaking," she said.
The couple took some time off from the IVF process so Kaitlyn could work with a nutritionist to get her body healthier. Tests revealed Kaitlyn had "crazy high levels of mycotoxins" some parasites and other toxins in her body possibly due to mold exposure from an old apartment in Boston. After eight months of detoxing, the couple tried again.
"On Dec. 19, we transferred our one-and-only embryo and it stuck! I got pregnant! I took a test on Christmas Eve, which was still way too early ... but it actually came up positive. I got to give the test to Matt as a Christmas present with my dad and his mom there," Kaitlyn said.
What to expect as parents
Having a baby will be challenging, Kaitlyn said, choosing her words carefully.
"I know it will feel a lot like I'm a single mom for a while because Matt can't help me physically. But there are so many things that I literally cannot do without him," she said of Matt.
"He handles all the day-to-day stuff and runs the household...There are so many things that I do that he walks me through,step by step. So as much as he can't help physically, he is going to be such a good dad in every other way. I can't wait tosee him become one. I don't know that my situation will be any more challenging than any other new mother, it can be hard for everyone. So I'm just going to take it dayby day." she said.
As far as Matt holding his child, she said it's something that "really gets to him."
"He's not incredibly vocal about it, mostly because he doesn't like to show a lot of emotion. But we've definitely talked about it. I just tell him there is so much more to being a parent than the physical part, and after a couple of years...that won't matter," she said.
Matt said he is excited to become a first-time dad, however the "worries about not being able to help physically sometimes overtake that excitement." He is "concerned and sad about that," but added they would not be taking on the responsibility of parenthood if they did not have the means to hire sufficient help.
"Looking down the road it does make me sad to think about all the different things that I won't be able to do with my son, but at the same time, I'm very lucky to be able to still have a son for somebody in my situation. My role will be with everything else that does not require direct physical assistance. I've gotten pretty good at being able to explain things to people over the years as you might imagine. I will be able to teach our son some valuable life lessons. Also, my strength in the relationship is being the one who keeps everything organized and planned, which will be some of my best contributions once the craziness starts," Matt wrote in an email.
Kaitlyn said she is already looking for solutions and ways that Matt can hold his son.
There are products on the market such as "BabyBjorns and even T-shirtsthat have pockets in the front so that dads can carry the baby," she said, adding she plans to have Matt hold the baby as much as possible, "even if that includes strapping the baby on him and sending him around the block."
The couple'sfamilies will help and they have already put their names on waitlists for local day care centers.
Along the way there will be struggles, "like everyone else, just with a paralyzed dad," Kaitlyn said.
"Hopefully, it means we will raise a compassionate and empathetickid who is appreciative of family, but who knows, maybe that will be the biggest challenge early on in our son's life. During the time when it is important for kids to 'fit in' getting him to understand that his family is still a family, no matter how different it looks. And that his dad is just as much of a dad as anyone else's. And getting him to learn how to show love and compassion for others."
The couple know the road ahead as parents will mean more hills and mountains to climb, but they are ready and excited to meet their baby boy in September.
Helping others who are paralyzed
In the meantime, Matt works to help others. He is planning the second annual golf tournament fundraiser scheduled for July 15 in Louisville.
"We started this event last year to not only add a second fundraising opportunity every year, but also to support our donations towards the University of Louisville spinal cord injury research program," Matt said. "Our donation goes towards covering living expenses for individuals who move here to participate in research."
The main event for the MW Fund is the BEE Strong event, which has been held every year since the couple ran the Boston Marathon route. This year it will be on Sept. 20.
"At this event, we have live music food and drink and we present therapy grants to individuals who are local and able to attend as well as provide information about our year and all of the individuals who were supported. Since 2018 we have donated over $350,000 for therapy and research participants," Matt said.
To donate or for more information, visit mwfund.org.
