Tragedy spurs fundraising efforts for young couple

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Joan Lyall, who lived most of her life in Malverne, and Garrett FitzGerald, a Suffern, N.Y., native, fell in love nine years ago, and got engaged. The wedding was scheduled for March 4 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church — right across the street from where Lyall grew up — and the hall arrangements had been scheduled. A painting she created for the church while a member of its Youth Group was to be displayed on the altar during their wedding.

The couple had started a life together in Boston last September, and started new jobs as well: He as a federal agent for the Secret Service, working out of the agency’s Boston office, and she as a speech pathologist at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Then, on Dec. 29, tragedy struck.

While on security detail for Hillary Clinton, FitzGerald, 30, and three other agents, traveling by car on a New Hampshire highway, were involved in a head-on collision with a driver who crossed the double yellow lines. The driver was killed instantly, and the agents were all critically injured. FitzGerald suffered severe spinal injuries, which left him without movement or feeling from the chest down, including his arms.

“Initially, they did a surgical procedure on him to relieve the swelling on his spine,” said neighbor and family friend Larry Hoppenhauer, who traveled to Boston to visit FitzGerald, who is being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital. “He is still in intensive care, and going forward, he’ll be attending rehab therapy, so one is always hopeful.”

FitzGerald will be transferred to a specialized spinal cord injury rehabilitation center in the coming days. “Every day is a little bit better than it was before,” said Lyall. “Garrett is a determined and very strong person.”

Because of his impending rehabilitation schedule, the couple decided to move their wedding date up, and they were married in his hospital room last Saturday, surrounded by close family and friends. “There wasn’t a dry eye in his ICU room, as family from all over the world video-streamed the ceremony live,” said the groom’s friend and best man, Rob Freedman.

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