Welland dad learns to walk on prosthetic leg to walk his daughter down the aisle

They don't remember the faces of the audience members. They don't remember what wedding music was playing, or who was crying. All Rainer Jaschke and his daughter Laura remember is this: he was walking her down the aisle.

Surgeons had amputated the Welland man's leg just seven months earlier, and he was only three weeks into using his first prosthesis. Doctors told him he'd never be ready in time forLaura's April 28 wedding, butafter days of grueling therapy, he proved them wrong.

The details of the grand moment are mostly a blur now, Laura says.It's possible that guests wiped away tears, and cameras flashed. Everyone at the 70-guest wedding knew the magnitude of that moment.

But "I really can only go by the pictures," she said. "I was not paying attention to everyone else."

"We kind of looked at each other like, 'We're doing this.'"

The journey down the aisle was a triumphant chapter for the retired electrician, who lost his leg suddenly in the fall.

Jaschke, 59, has been diabetic for about 20 years. Early last year, he noticed what looked like a blister on the bottom of his foot.

He saw numerous doctors, he said, including two emergency room visits where medical stafftold him he was fine.

On the third visit, he was admitted to Grimsby's West Lincoln MemorialHospital, and within four days, was transferred to Hamilton General Hospital.

Doctors amputated his leg at the knee, he said, but he was too sick to remember much about it. "It was like a landslide coming down on me. It was so fast."

But "I was told it was life or limb. I chose life."

Right awaythough, Rainer worried about the wedding. He'd always dreamed of walking Laura down the aisle. He met with doctors five months ago and told them his goal was to do just thatin April.They told him it would never happen.

On April 4, he met with Dr. Sharon Grad,medical director of prosthetics and orthotics at Hamilton Health Sciences, and her team at the Regional Rehabilitation Centreon April 4.From the beginning, Grad said, Jaschke's stated goal was clear.

"People look at me and say, 'I want to walk,'" she said. "For him, it was 'I want to walk my daughter down the aisle."

Usually, the progress Jaschke required takes twice as long, but Grad knew he was motivated. Laura, a mechanical engineer who lives in Hamilton's east end,was eventrying to make a prosthesis using a 3D printer. It wasn't her area of expertise, but she was willing to try.

It wasn't needed.Rainer worked with a physiotherapist,an occupational therapist and other members of Grad's team. "It was really, truly a team effort," Grad said.

It paid off that April afternoon at the Cotton Factory. When Laura pulled up in the car, she said, she got out to find a beaming dad. He used a walker that day, but he was on his feet.

At the reception, the pair even danced together to Nancy Sinatra's "It's For My Dad."

Jaschke's next goal? To be able to walk his dog with his wife.

"Even though his moment or our moment is over, he's still persevering," Laura said.

"He is my best friend."