Emma Kitson joined the army as a gunner with the Royal Artillery when she was 18-years-old and was in active service in Iraq through 2003. As it turns out, the 100lb shels - AS90 bullets for tanks - she was carrying on her back throughout her time there were slowly damaging her spine.
Kitson left at 21-years-old when the pain in her back became too much to bear. The pain got worse throughout her twenties and they tried to operate on her to repair the damage. When she woke up from the surgery, she couldn't feel her left leg so ever since she had to use a wheelchair due to extreme pain when walking.
After Kitson's swimming coach Chris Kitson proposed, Emma was determined to spend most of her wedding day out of her wheelchair. She didn't tell anyone about the plans, but she managed to walk down the aisle with her dad and her son by her side all thanks to lots of training and medicine.