Stabbing victim, first responder tie the knot
TAMPA, Fla. - Five years ago, she was stabbed 32 times by her ex-boyfriend. She almost died four times, and she lost so much blood she went into a coma.
This month, Melissa Dohme married one of the men who saved her life that day: the first responder who carried her from the ambulance to the helicopter for treatment.
Ten months after the horrific attack, Dohme met firefighter Cameron Hill again at a luncheon where she shared her story of survival, and he invited her to a dinner at the firehouse with the rest of the crew.
After that, he was by her side through countless surgeries and speech and physical therapy appointments. He was even there to hold her hand in court when the man who attacked her was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
After a few months of dating, Cameron said he knew she was the one. They fell in love.
LOVE STORIES: Victim of attempted murder, first responder fall in love
The two later got engaged at a Tampa Bay Rays game when he popped the question on the mound at Tropicana Field. "The more I learned about Cameron, the more I realized that we have so much in common. And this feeling that I was feeling was not just because he was someone who had saved me," said Melissa. "I really had feelings for this man."
Dohme and Hill were married this month surrounded by hundreds of family, friends, EMTs and even doctors who helped save her life.
“The wedding day was the most beautiful day of my life,” she told FOX News. “So many good people helped me get me get here… The trauma surgeon was there and I want him to realize that he made this possible.”
It's not the way most love stories would begin, but this is a love story with a very happy ending. "I had to go through all this stuff that led me to find him. I wouldn't want to go through what I went through again, but I also wouldn't change it because it led me to Cameron," Melissa said.