After her fiancé Derrick popped the question earlier this year, Nichole Sullivan had only one requirement for her special day—Derrick’s sister, Jessica, had to be included.
Back in 2011, Jessica was in a car accident on her way home from a first date. The tire blew and she was ejected from the front seat. The accident left Jessica—who was not wearing a seatbelt—with a severe brain injury. She’s required round-the-clock care ever since.
Derrick and Jessica’s mother, Lenore Torres, says that for the first several years following the accident, her daughter had “no communication, no expression, nothing. You looked through her, she looked through you.”
But in the last couple of years, Jessica has made progress.
She now follows people with her eyes, watches television, and even smiles and laughs often.
Last week, Nichole went to visit her soon-to-be sister-in-law, and ask her to be one of her bridesmaids.
The moment was captured on video, and left not a dry-eye to be found.
She started by giving Lenore a card and asking her to read it out loud to Jessica. After reading it for herself, Lenore burst into tears.
“I’ve seen my mother shed so many sad tears due to Jessie’s accident, and it was great to see some happy tears,” Derrick says. ”Her being overwhelmed with emotions was priceless and a beautiful thing.”
The card read:
“Soon you will be my sister, but until then will you be my bridesmaid?”
Jessica, who used to never be able to show emotion, beamed at everyone in the room with excitement.
Prayers For Jessica Torres
Nichole says that she would have wanted the sister(s) of anyone she married to be in her wedding. Jessica’s condition made that desire no different.