14 Stories of Overcoming the Odds

Ty was a marine who had just proposed to his high school sweetheart, Renee, when he was deployed to Iraq. Five months later, Renee received the devastating news that Ty and six other Marines had been attacked by a suicide bomber. Ty's skull was shattered; his face, head and arms were burned beyond recognition, and his left hand had to be amputated. 

When he appeared on The Oprah Show in 2006, Ty had undergone more than 30 surgeries and extensive physical therapy—and Renee never left his side. The couple married in October 2006, and Renee says she never had any intention of leaving Ty. "I didn't date him and marry him because of what he looked like," she says. "I married him because of who he is."