Wedding bells ring for wounded hero

A wedding is supposed to be a moment of joy and hope filled with laughter and dreams. But for a Middleborough soldier who grew up in Walpole and his bride, Oct. 2 was a bittersweet day of tears.

Dawnalee Downing's dreams of the big day, flowers, a white dress and the peal of church bells were traded for thankfulness as she exchanged vows in a hospital ward where her groom was recuperating.

U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Downing had barely escaped with his life when a bomb exploded in Afghanistan, taking both his legs.

On Sept. 24, an improvised explosive device (IED) blew Downing from his Humvee and threw him into no-man's land, leaving him caught between friendly and enemy fire in the Logar province of Afghanistan.

Pelted by rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s, Downing counted his men before checking his own wounds.

"I knew I was alive, I wanted to make sure they were," he said during a recent telephone interview from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

"Once I knew that all team members were still here, I laid on the ground and did a self-evaluation to see how badly I was injured. When I realized the extent of my injuries, I started yelling for medical assistance. At this point I knew both of my legs were junk and non-repairable. My left arm was questionable because I could not move it at all," Downing wrote in his blog.

His men answered and Downing fended off the enemy, shooting several rounds from his pistol. "Then all my guys came running up, returned fire and pushed the other guys back."

Downing was pulled to safety and stabilized by a Navy corpsman before being laid on the hood of a Humvee to be airlifted to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, escorted by Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.

At the base, he was awarded the Purple Heart. Since then, he's been promoted to staff sergeant, received the Combat Infantryman Badge and was awarded the Bronze Star.

His wife calls him "My newly promoted handsome husband."

The bride's journey to the altar began when her husband returned to the Untied States. The couple had been together for seven years. After he was deployed in January, she promised she'd marry him when he returned home.

Downing grew up in Walpole and lived in Mansfield before settling into his Middleborough home with his wife and her daughters: 10-year-old Alexandra, 14-year-old Jacqueline and 18-year-old Samantha.

The homecoming wasn't what she expected, but Dawnalee Downing wasn't going to back down on her promise.

A hospital ward was as close as he was going to get to home.

"So I made it happen," Dawnalee Downing said.

They were wed on Oct. 2 at 12:30 p.m. in Ward 58-61 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"He's my hero, but I'll share him with everyone else," she said.

He has had more than a dozen surgeries at Walter Reed, and has been outfitted for prosthesis. His 8-year-old son, Jimmy, has come to terms with the injury.

"He comes running in and gives me a hug; legs aren't an issue," Downing said.

Downing's left elbow was also shattered in the explosion, but the couple looks at the bright side.

"He's right-handed," his wife said.

The couple is remarkably upbeat. She is gearing up for her husband's possible Christmas visit to Middleborough; he's optimistic about the future and plans to attend night school, and find a Harley Davidson tricycle that he can retrofit with custom handle controls so he can hit the road.

Downing has already made significant progress in his recovery. Last week, he walked on his prosthetic legs for the first time.

"He walked over and gave me a kiss," Dawnalee Downing said. "I was speechless - frozen."