A woman who was hit by an NYPD vehicle in 2013 is preparing to walk down the aisle with her husband for the second time. After the accident, she didn’t remember him. Now she is falling in love with him all over again.

The Walk Home

Angela Sartin-Hartung, an Oklahoma native, was living in New York to help her daughter. Her daughter was an aspiring ballet dancer training with the SLK Ballet Company.

On October 25, 2013, she realized her bus home was canceled because of a presidential visit. She began to walk. When she crossed against the light at East 72^nd Street and York Avenue, she was struck by an NYPD Traffic Enforcement vehicle.

Thankfully, the New York Fire Department vehicle was two cars back. They rushed her to the hospital within minutes.

Sartin-Hartung suffered major injuries. She sustained a traumatic brain injury, memory loss, facial fractures, broken teeth, nerve damage and partial hearing and vision loss.

No Memory

When she woke in the hospital, she didn’t recognize her husband of 14 years. In fact, she didn’t remember anything back to the 2000s. She thought her children were still toddlers. And she forgot her first husband’s death in 1998 from heart and lung disease.

Her husband, Jeffrey Hartung, said the doctors didn’t know if she would survive. “She started showing signs of severe brain injury with limb movement when she was unconscious. But as bad as it was going, she improved.” She spent a month in ICU.

The first days after she awoke from a coma were quite difficult. “It was hard and emotional,” he said. “Our first conversation was in pieces. We’d connect a few things, then she’d forget, and we had to repeat everything all over again. …We’ve had to develop all new connections for us as a couple.”

“It was very upsetting,” said Sartin-Hartung. “To this day, I get upset and start crying. It felt like I was in a movie. It didn’t feel real,” she told The Daily News.

Her Faith Sustained Her

Her Christian faith sustained her through the difficult times, along with her husband’s dedication to helping her remember. “I’m in the business of re-building and creating new memories for her,” Jeffrey Hartung said.

Hartung said his love for his wife is stronger than ever. “Almost from the day she was hit to today, I was told having a traumatic brain injury ends in divorce 85 percent of the time,” he said, “but my love for my wife has seen me through.”

Although she crossed against the light, her attorney, Daniel Flanzig, said that she was clearly visible to drivers, as evidenced by a video at the intersection. “The driver must see what there is to be seen,” explained Flanzig. “Basically, he wasn’t paying attention. One of the best witnesses was the ambulance driver who saw her straightaway, and he was two cars back.” The city settled the suit for $2 million.

Renewing Their Vows

Sartin-Hartung has moved back to Tulsa to be with family. She goes to physical therapy monthly. She is still hearing and vision impaired and was recently diagnosed with Leukemia, reported The Daily News. But she’s staying positive and is focused on the future.

She is planning to renew vows with her husband in Central Park this spring. “It’s so what I want. I remember getting married to my first husband. I want that (with Hartung),” she said. “I am falling in love with him again.”