Watch the emotional moment a mother stands up for the first time in years to dance with her son on his wedding day
- last year
A wheelchair-bound mum surprised her son with a tear-jerking dance on his wedding day - by standing for the first time in four years.
Dede Brown, 58, kept her newfound mobility a secret for two weeks, leading up to a truly emotional moment as she stood up on the dance floor.
She had been wheelchair-bound for the last four years due to a degenerative nerve disease that left her unable to walk more than a few steps.
Son Tayler said he wanted to dance with Dede, but she said he should ask a different family member, as she could not stand alone.
Tayler, 26, was insistent and told his mother that he would not settle for anyone else.
He planned to hold her with the help of her husband, Mark, an IT professional, during the dance, and find a way to finish the dance like that.
Luckily, she saw the solution on an Instagram post, The Zeen, a mobility device fitted with three levels, sitting, barstool mode, and standing.
It also has a bicycle seat design which lets the user walk and move.
Dede, from Rocklin, California, USA, ordered the Zeen, and it arrived two weeks before the wedding, during which time she practiced using it in secret.
She said: "I was really nervous. I had Mark demonstrate several times. I knew I wouldn't fall because Mark did the Superman in it.
"As soon as my son would leave the house I would get up and dance to practice. Two weeks later the moment came.
"I stayed in my room half the day so I knew I'd have the energy to do the dance."
Dede and husband Mark sat at their table and switched from her wheelchair to the Zeen halfway through the ceremony.
She switched to standing mode on the dancefloor itself and didn't leave a single dry eye at the ceremony.
"Tayler couldn't believe that she was standing, he just started crying," said Mark, 61.
"My other son, Trever, was bawling, even his rough and tumble friends started tearing up."
Dede added: "I was so focused on the dance that I didn't see anyone, I couldn't hear the song.
"After the dance, I had family members come up to me and say it was so beautiful.
"The father of the bride came up and said, 'I thought my dance was beautiful, but this just takes the cake'.
"I was just so excited and thrilled that I was able to do this on my own. I never thought it would come to this."
Dede Brown, 58, kept her newfound mobility a secret for two weeks, leading up to a truly emotional moment as she stood up on the dance floor.
She had been wheelchair-bound for the last four years due to a degenerative nerve disease that left her unable to walk more than a few steps.
Son Tayler said he wanted to dance with Dede, but she said he should ask a different family member, as she could not stand alone.
Tayler, 26, was insistent and told his mother that he would not settle for anyone else.
He planned to hold her with the help of her husband, Mark, an IT professional, during the dance, and find a way to finish the dance like that.
Luckily, she saw the solution on an Instagram post, The Zeen, a mobility device fitted with three levels, sitting, barstool mode, and standing.
It also has a bicycle seat design which lets the user walk and move.
Dede, from Rocklin, California, USA, ordered the Zeen, and it arrived two weeks before the wedding, during which time she practiced using it in secret.
She said: "I was really nervous. I had Mark demonstrate several times. I knew I wouldn't fall because Mark did the Superman in it.
"As soon as my son would leave the house I would get up and dance to practice. Two weeks later the moment came.
"I stayed in my room half the day so I knew I'd have the energy to do the dance."
Dede and husband Mark sat at their table and switched from her wheelchair to the Zeen halfway through the ceremony.
She switched to standing mode on the dancefloor itself and didn't leave a single dry eye at the ceremony.
"Tayler couldn't believe that she was standing, he just started crying," said Mark, 61.
"My other son, Trever, was bawling, even his rough and tumble friends started tearing up."
Dede added: "I was so focused on the dance that I didn't see anyone, I couldn't hear the song.
"After the dance, I had family members come up to me and say it was so beautiful.
"The father of the bride came up and said, 'I thought my dance was beautiful, but this just takes the cake'.
"I was just so excited and thrilled that I was able to do this on my own. I never thought it would come to this."