A happily married wife has spoken out and defended her relationship with a wheelchair-bound man after online trolls branded their relationship a ‘joke’ and accused her of being a gold-digger.
24-year-old Hannah Aylward and 27-year-old Shane Burcaw have become a viral sensation with people all around the world praising them for standing strong and loving one another unconditionally.
This month, the proud Minnesota couple has also tied the knot in a private ceremony that took place in the backyard of their home.
While the pair was happy to share their happy moments with their social media followers, plenty of online trolls called their marriage a joke and accused Hannah of getting married for money.
“Is he rich or something?” one person wrote. Another one said: “I’m pretty sure that woman married him because of money and not for love.” While another commenter suggested their marriage was “a joke,” one person said the pictures must have been edited.
Despite some comments about the couple being extremely negative, Hannah defended her hubby, who was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a condition that causes his muscles to deteriorate, and insisted that critics only encourage them to continue sharing their story.
“If the past two years of having a YouTube channel have taught me anything, it’s that you’re never going to be able to educate everyone. No matter what you do, some people will just never come around,” the 24-year-old wrote in her post.
“Worrying about these people’s opinions is a waste of time, and as time has gone on, it’s become so much easier to genuinely have no internal reaction to comments like these.
“A few years ago, reading words like these was painful. For a while, I held onto the idea that once Shane and I were married, all the people doubting our relationship would realize it was real.”
As Hannah added, she and Shane continue to share their story and glimpses from their lives in hopes of making people realize that individuals with disabilities make worthy partners.
“Comments like these only encourage us to continue! We’re so grateful for all of the people that our story has managed to reach in a positive way,” she concluded.
Congratulations to the couple!
Replaced!