Last summer, McKenzie Yeoman set up a fundraising site so her sister, Kelcie,
could have her dream Disney wedding to Larry Ragsdale, her high school
sweetheart.
Readers were so touched by the Oregon couple's love story – their wedding
plans were put on indefinite hold in March 2010 after a drunk driver plowed into
Ragsdale's car as he was on his way to propose – she met her goal (to raise
$20,000) in just 11 days.
It turns out getting the full Disney wedding experience costs more than that,
so a group of former Disney brides who befriended Kelcie after her story went
viral has set up another fundraiser to make sure she gets the full Cinderella
experience.
"Recently, Kelcie posted on the group asking which she should choose between
– the castle photography package or Cinderella's crystal coach," Christie
McLarty, 27, of College Station, Texas, tells PEOPLE. "Of course, photography is
essential, but a few of us Disney brides decided that they absolutely deserved
to have Cinderella's crystal coach as well."
"Kelcie and Larry have been through so much," she continues. "I would love
nothing more than for Larry to feel like her Prince Charming as they ride away
in the coach after the wedding."
The bride-to-be was beyond thrilled.
"They're so amazing," Yeoman, 24, of Selma, Oregon, tells PEOPLE. "They're
like a family and they just bring you in. I go to them for advice all the
time."
The past year has been a whirlwind for Yeoman – starting with a surprise
proposal last August, a video that immediately went viral and had a resurgence
around Valentine's Day.
Ragsdale, once a star athlete who ran track, played football and made Sports
Illustrated'sFaces in the Crowd list, suffered brain damage in the wreck and has
spent much of the last four years in a rehabilitation facility.
Larry Ragsdale and Kelcie Yeoman in 2006
JESSICA SANCHEZBut by last August he was well enough to propose at the same
rehabilitation facility where Yeoman got a job so she could be by his side. They
have set a September wedding date (though Disney told them not to reveal the
exact date) with about 100 guests.
Yeoman says she broke down in tears when she found out her dream wedding was
becoming a reality, thanks to her sister.
"It's really been amazing – the outpouring of love from people," she says.
"People say, 'You guys deserve this.' I know Larry deserves the world and I work
every day to give him the best world."
Ragsdale moved out of the rehabilitation facility in January and in with his
fiancée, who now works as his full-time caretaker.
"He's doing so well," she says. "Since he's been home I just feel like he's
so happy. Before I got to see him every day – now it's all the time. It makes me
happy. He's come a long way."
He still uses a wheelchair to get around, but is slowing learning to walk
again, she says. His limitations come from his brain injury – he's not partially
paralyzed, as has been reported – she says.
"He has balance issues," she says. "He can take some steps with a handrail
and some assistance. We just keep seeing progress. So it's great."
Ragsdale goes to speech, occupational and physical therapy, Yeoman says. His
speech is a little more challenging because of his brain injury, but it's
improving as well, especially since he came home, she says.
"He randomly will come up with a new phrase and it's not something I'll say,"
she says. "He recently started saying, 'I'm the man' all the time and it cracks
everyone up."
While the couple like to share memories of their past together – before their
lives changed forever – the accident itself is not something they dwell on, she
says.
"We try not to think about all we lost because that makes us both really
sad," she says. "But it feels good to finally continue on with the plans we had
after waiting for so long for them to happen."