VALDOSTA — After suffering a stroke as he began his third year of chiropractic school in Marietta, Quitman native Walter Romine Jr. and wife Jessica are living by the biblical declaration from Phillipians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

“This verse keeps us going every day,” Jessica said. “We refer back to this verse when dealing with all the stress, sleep deprivation, frustration and hard work. It is also posted up on our wall next to Walter’s hospital bed. He goes to therapy several times a week at Shepherd Pathways (in Decatur, Ga.). They have been an incredible support group and are so encouraging through this small bump in the road.”

The lifelong Quitman resident suffered the stroke on April 10, his symptoms coming on suddenly as he was driving home to visit with family and friends for a holiday weekend. The stroke left him partially paralyzed on his left side and affected his speech.

Recovery is expected to be a long and expensive process, according to Jessica. While he has made progress, there is still a long way to go, and insurance will no longer pay for his therapies and many other medical bills, she said.

His friends have rallied around him and planned a benefit to help defray those expenses. Raffle tickets are being sold for $50. Prizes include a $3,000 shopping spree to Steel’s Jewelry; one-week to timeshare anywhere in the USA; half-day quail hunt for two at Lenox River Ranch in Lenox; one-weekend stay at beach house in Panama City Beach; one-week stay at lake home on Lake Eufala in Alabama. Tickets are being sold at Steel’s Jewelry in Valdosta, or from Glenna Orr or Janice Worn. The drawing will be held Nov. 25 at Steel’s Jewelry. You do not need to be present to win. Make checks out to Benjamin Walter Romine Jr. Recovery Fund. Questions or to purchase or sell tickets: Janice Worn at jwworn@yahoo.com, 244-7691, or Glenna Orr at glennaorr@yahoo.com, 794-8123, or Katie Houseman, 794-3929.

A benefit golf tournament was held earlier at Kinderlou Forest.

The youngest of three children and the only son, Walter grew up in Quitman, graduating from Brooks County High School in 1988. He went to Carson Newman in Jefferson City, Tenn., on a golf scholarship and graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in History and Business.

Wife Jessica was born in West Palm Beach, Fla., the oldest of five children. She graduated from Glades Day School in Belle Glade, Fla., in 1999. Like her husband, she was athletically talented and received a volleyball scholarship to Indian River Community College and graduated in 2001 with an Associate in Arts degree. She transferred to Valdosta State University and also studied at Valdosta Technical College, graduating from Val Tech in 2006 with a degree in Radiology.

The couple met through a mutual friend, Michelle Lamb, on a blind date on Jan. 24, 2006, at Mori’s in Valdosta.

“We both felt like something was different, but we couldn’t put our fingers on it,” Jessica said.

Earlier, at Christmas time in 2005, they had both had discussions with their parents that they thought they would never marry because they couldn’t find that special someone.

“Both of our parents said you will find that person and you will ‘just know,’” Jessica said. “We both thought they were crazy. You can’t ‘just know.’ Little did we know four weeks later we would meet our soulmate.”

Three months after meeting, Walter proposed to Jessica on her birthday, April 28, 2006, at The Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island.

“It was quite the whirlwind but when you find that special someone, you just know and don’t let go,” she said.

On Oct. 28, 2006, they were married at Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville. Two months later, they moved to Atlanta where Walter started chiropractor school.

“My mom (Brenda King) has moved in with us from Hahira and takes care of Walter during the day so that I am able to work,” Jessica said. “She is incredible and deserves praise as she has given up her own life to see Walter and (me) through this journey. It is not a race but a marathon of your life.”

Walter will have a MRI scan and angiogram on Tuesday to see if the swelling has gone down enough in his brain so that he may have surgery at the end of this year.

“If it hasn’t then we continue to wait and pray that the swelling will go down,” Jessica said.

“The doctors say he is a miracle and cannot believe how far he has come. His speech is limited but you can now understand everything he says. They say to give him six months to two years before he is 95 percent back to his old self. They say sometimes things just click, and he may be 99 percent back to normal, and no one will ever be able to tell anything happened to him at all.”

Those who would like to follow Walter’s recovery may check his blog at www.walterrominejr.blogspot.com