A man who lost both legs in a suicide attempt is now the happiest man alive after marrying the pretty young physiotherapist who helped him walk again.

Craig Bowler and Abby Williams were wed this month on a romantic beach in the Bahamas, during a trip organised by local charity Operation Sunshine.

The surprise wedding came exactly 18 months after 30-year-old Craig, in a state of severe depression, climbed a 30ft electricity pylon and was thrown to the ground with a 33,000 volt shock.

He was discovered four hours later, on the brink of death, and rushed to hospital where he was in a coma for two weeks. To save his life, doctors had to amputate both his legs from below the knee and also his right arm.

By April last year, Craig was fit enough to be fitted with prosthetic legs and 23-year-old Abby was one of the Milton Keynes Hospital physiotherapists tasked with teaching him how to walk again.

"When I first met Craig he was zooming along the hospital corridor in his wheelchair shouting: 'The king has arrived!'" said Abby.

"I thought he was loud – but very nice and very funny."

While the former bricklayer staggered doctors by learning to walk within just six weeks, the attraction between him and Abby blossomed.
But, because of medical ethics, the pair could not get romantically involved until the hospital treatment was over.

"Once we started dating it was a real whirlwind romance," said Abby, who has now given up work to become Craig's full-time carer at their Olney home.

In June last year, Craig completed a sponsored walk round Olney to raise £3,000 for caring Milton Keynes-based charity Operation Sunshine, which aims to bring joy into the lives of people with severe physical and mental disabilities.

Charity director Jackie Connell organised the dream trip to the Bahamas so Craig could fulfil his dream and swim with dolphins. But at the last minute, the couple sprang the wedding surprise.

"Jackie was wonderful. I'd already packed my dress but she helped us organise everything else," said Abby.

"The chef on the boat baked us a wonderful wedding cake and the other families on the trip were our guests. It was the best wedding day ever."

Craig, who plans to train as a counsellor for people with depression, now describes himself as "over the moon" with happiness.

"Eighteen months ago I wanted to kill myself. Today I am the happiest man in the world. Who would ever have believed it?" he said.