CLEVELAND -- When someone is facing a life-threatening situation, the love and support of a spouse can be very important.

But it's a whole different story when both of them are struggling to recover from something that easily could have killed them both, which is just the situation one local couple recently faced, reported NewsChannel5's Alicia Booth.

If ever there was a couple born to ride, it's Wayne and Marie McDonald. The Akron couple loved riding so much, they left their wedding reception on a motorcycle and spent their honeymoon seeing the sites from their bike.

But all that changed when, through no fault of their own, the driver of a truck ran into them.

Marie doesn't remember the accident, and many days, Wayne wishes he couldn't.

"Immediately afterward, I tried to stand up and I looked down and saw there was a definite problem," said Wayne.

Orthopedic surgeon John Sontich got right to work as the McDonalds arrived at MetroHealth Medical Center.

"It was pretty obvious from the onset that his leg was not salvageable," said Sontich.

By the time Wayne got to Metro, he had already come to terms with the fact he'd be losing his leg.

"It looked like I might die in the dirt there, so that I didn't -- the leg was horrible to lose it, but not as bad as dying," he said.

Wayne's amputation was complicated.

"He had grease and oil that was also in the leg and the grease and oil had contaminated up into the thigh," said Sontich.

Wayne's injuries didn't end there. He also shattered bones in his forearm.

Marie wasn't doing much better. In all, she had 16 broken bones. Three of them in one leg were broken in half.

But she said she was just happy to be alive, painfully aware of what could have happened.

"It's on my mind a lot. I think about it probably every day," she said.

The McDonalds did what they could to help each other.

"I'm very proud of him. He's my hero. He kept me happy in days I could have cried all day and he kept me focused on the future," said Marie.

Wayne finally started to feel like himself six weeks after the accident.

"When I first got my prosthesis and took a step with the parallel bars, it was overwhelming," he said.

Life will never be the same since that day last September, but the McDonalds said that though their bodies have changed, they have each other and will continue to do what it takes to get their lives back.

Wayne is working to get his masters and PhD at the University of Akron, and his dream is to teach college.

Marie is hoping to go back to teaching in the next school year.

The couple is still overwhelmed at the number of family friends and neighbors who have supported them.