Love Has No Limit: Taylor Morris & Danielle Kelly

“We still laugh every day, we still have fun with each other, we still do the things that we love to do…and we still plan to live the life that we've always planned on living together”

I’m sure we all stop and think when we are in a relationship with someone we love to bits, what would I do if something serious happened to one of us? Would it break me, would I step up to the plate? Would I become weak or would I be strong?

I suppose when Danielle Kelly had this conversation with herself she decided she would go hard, and reading the story of she and boyfriend, Taylor Morris, I have never been so touched by a partners’ dedication.

Taylor Morris has had a fantastic road to recovery so far. He’s positive and inspiring, proving to many that the human body is merely just a vessel but has nothing on our spirit. My fear is what road would he have taken if he didn’t have Danielle by his side?

Taylor (right) in Afghanistan

Danielle and Taylor were high school sweethearts from Cedar Falls, Iowa. Shortly after school, Taylor joined the Navy and quickly worked his way up to becoming part of an elite class of soldiers, the Explosive Ordinance Disposal specialists, made famous in the Oscar-winning film, The Hurt Locker. They are the first men on the battlefield, putting themselves in harms way to tackle unexploded IED's. Taylor was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2012 for 7 months.

At 23 years old, Taylor Morris became one of five surviving quadruple amputees (in the US) when he stepped on an unexploded device on May 3rd 2012. 

On their blog Danielle writes:

While Taylor was deployed we would talked nonstop about how excited we were to be together again.  We would talk about all the things we had planned for the future. What trips we were going to take. Where we were going to live once he was out of the Navy.  How excited we were to be around family and friends.  What jobs he would like to do beyond EOD.  My job and how I was going to make it big in the real estate world, open my own firm, buy rental properties, and manage them.  How we wanted to get married but not have kids right away because we wanted to live an adventurous, spontaneous, fun lifestyle before starting a family.  We wanted to go hiking and camping.  We wanted to sky dive (we’ve tried a handful of times but it never worked out with the weather). We wanted to scuba dive off a tropical island. We wanted to bungee jump off a bridge over some water.  We wanted to go on this motorcycle ride through Africa.  We had our whole lives planned out.  But I guess the joke is on us because you can’t plan life. Life just happens.

The video below really illustrates the struggles and triumphs that followed (there will be tears). There are really no words to illustrate this beautiful love story, so you’re best to watch below and get caught up:

Within 3 days of returning to the United States, Danielle was at Taylors’ side. There she remained a permanent fixture as Taylor recovered from his surgery, and cheered him on as he took his first steps on his newly fitted prosthesis.

Danielle in hospital with Taylor

By June they’d moved into an outpatient apartment where life continued as usual, with Danielle and Taylor shopping for essentials like hangers, toilet paper… building their life together from the ground up. When friend Tim Dodd visited the couple in DC he said of Danielle: 

"She helps Taylor cause mischief around the hospital. Things like drag racing wheelchairs against him or stealing the whole two gallon tub of ice cream from the hospital freezer, she helps Taylor stay Taylor."

Danielle and Taylor reminded themselves of plans they had together before his injury, dreams they did not plan on discarding. The couple had always had a love of water sports and dreamed of owning a log cabin right on the lake so they could live a life full of activity. An online website and its’ followers helped make their dream a reality, by donating more the $250,000 towards the future purchase of a cabin.

In July 2012, Taylor and Danielle were invited with several other wounded warriors to the White House, where Taylor was pulled aside and presented the Purple Heart award  (oldest military award in the US presented to wounded soldiers) by President Obama in person.

Danielle continues to document Taylor’s progress on his website: www.taylormorris.org, where it is evident that life for this couple has not slowed. Activities to date include Taylor biking around the halls of the hospital, running the 5km "Tunnel to Tower" in NYC, jet-skiing in Florida, drifting a friends car in the snow and dancing at a friends' wedding in September. The couple recently enjoyed a much-needed vacation and are finalizing a very important project that will allow Taylor to drive again in an adapted brand new van! They even attended Obama’s inauguration ball together. Danielle made light of the fact that Taylors’ prosthesis slipped and spilt Diet Coke on the carpet outside the oval office.

“We both have off days, but they’re kind of off-set from each other”, says Taylor.

While receiving a Bronze Star (heroic military achievement) with Valor in August of last year, Taylor shed light on his tireless partner:

“If I had hands, I’d take this Bronze Star and pin it on Danielle,” he said in his touching tribute. “It’s been so hard and she’s been here the whole time.”

It is a situation I myself hope I never have to endure, but I don’t pity Taylor or Danielle too much. It seems that Taylor is, in the partner sense, the luckiest man in the world. We search for so long for that person we want to essentially spend our lives with. Some people never stop searching, and some only experience that for a brief moment. When we do find that person, if ever, what would we drive ourselves to do to hang on? Think about it.

My partner is working away where he works long, tough days. Unfortunately I have the time with my thoughts to pine over these things, things most of us can’t even fathom until we are put in that situation ourselves. I dread about receiving a phone call that he’s been injured at work. What would I do – would I block it out, shut down and become distant? Or would I spring to action, full of positive affirmations and tireless spirit? I would like to believe the latter, but who can really say until they experience it themselves. Yes, I’ve been a doting partner when he’s been ill or tired but I cannot know how far my spirit can stretch. Here’s hoping my even thinking about such situations keeps it flexible.

 Taylor’s injuries, while very traumatic and heartbreaking, are just a platform for his unbreakable spirit and positive attitude and of those around him. He has the support of family, friends, his country - the world. Anyone who reads his story is overwhelmed with amazement and inspiration. He has found the ultimate rock-hard foundation in Danielle. Again, he is proof you can really do anything you put your mind to, absolutely, 100%.

My heart warms when I read of people like this in the world. 

Sources:

www.taylormorris.org

www.thechive.com

www.wjla.com

www.dailymail.co.uk
Tim Dodd photography