A woman who thought she met the man of her dreams assumed he was ghosting her when he stopped responding. It was only after seeing a GoFundMe page for him that she discovered he was involved in a serious accident that left him partially paralyzed.
Haley Woloshen was vacationing with her family in Hawaii in 2022 when she met Cody Bryant for the first time. The two quickly formed a connection and grew closer after realizing they only lived a mile away from each other back home in Los Angeles.
Over the next few weeks, their romance bloomed. “Then I ‘ghosted her,’” Cody joked on Instagram.
Cody Bryant and Haley Woloshen met during a holiday in Hawaii in 2022 and soon felt a spark with each other
After not hearing from him for days, Haley assumed she was getting ghosted and thought he may have blocked her. But she eventually found out that he was in a coma after a terrible accident in Spain.
The young man sustained serious life-altering injuries after a car rammed into his moped while riding in Ibiza. Doctors were initially worried about whether he would make it through the night, and even if he did, they weren’t sure if he would ever walk again.
“Cody is in a stable condition but experienced a brain injury and a fractured femur that will require extensive surgery and an undetermined amount of time for recovery,” read a GoFundMe page that was created in September 2022 to offset his medical expenses.
Meanwhile, Haley came across the GoFundMe page and discovered that the man she was falling for was in a coma and not ghosting her after all.
A few weeks after they had hung out, the man had a serious accident that left him in a coma
In addition to a fractured femur, Cody suffered a traumatic brain injury that led to him losing some of his memories from recent years. This meant the memories of him connecting with Haley and the spark he felt with her were all wiped from his brain.
After they reconnected, Haley remained by his side on his road to recovery, and the two lovebirds rekindled their romance.
“I had actually been hit by a car and was in a coma. She found out via the GoFundMe. After months of focusing on rehab, we reconnected and she started helping me out platonically. Highlight: clipping my toenails,” Cody said in an Instagram clip.
Haley initially thought the man she was falling for was ghosting her, but she later found out about the accident after coming across the GoFundMe page
“Plot twist: because of my brain injury, I actually had no memory of our pre-accident connection. Neither of us expected it, but feelings started to build,” he continued. “I joke that she won me over a second time. Navigating boundaries between a relationship and caregiving was a challenge. But I couldn’t be happier with where we are. We’ve built a strong foundation in the most terrible of situations. In sickness and in health since day one. We’ve been together over a year now.”
Since being diagnosed with hemiplegia (partial paralysis), Cody has undergone physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and he beat the odds by walking again.
As he began the long road to recovery, the man decided to document the ups and downs of his journey online
@codys.comeback for those who don’t know me, this is my story. brain injuries are life altering in every way, but i’m determined to find the good. #recovery #health #fitness #tbirecovery #tbi #tbisurvivor #healthjourney #injuryrecovery #traumaticbraininjury #healing #braininjury #braininjurysurvivor #rehab #neuro #physicaltherapy #occupationaltherapy #OT #PT #miracle ♬ Overcome – Skott
@codys.comeback This is a hard one to post because I do my best to hide this part of brain injury. #health #tbi #recovery #braininjury #stroke ♬ Emotional Piano for the Soul (Inspirational Background Music) – Fearless Motivation Instrumentals
“But it seems trivial compared to the cognitive, psychological, and emotional sides of brain injury. The sentence ‘I wish I was missing limbs instead of having an injured brain’ has shown up in my journal more than once. Consciously losing your mind is terrible. Addressing these cognitive challenges is hard, but I’m hopeful for your patience and understanding as I figure out how to compensate for my deficits,” he wrote on the fundraising page.
Some of his next physical milestones include relearning how to write, run, and swim
@codys.comeback These memories keep me motivated to work my butt off. I’ve got many big recovery goals and i WILL make them happen. #fitness #health #recovery #tbi #braininjury #recovery #motivation #CapCut ♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz
In an April 2024 update on his GoFundMe page, Cody wrote that some of his next physical milestones include relearning how to write, run, and swim. As he remains transparent with his struggles, he wrote “My physical recovery seems to be directly proportional to my efforts and that helps me feel a bit more in control. But it seems trivial compared to the cognitive, psychological, and emotional sides of brain injury.”
“My brain doesn’t ‘auto save’ anymore so I use notes for everything,” he went on to say. “In order to accomplish a goal, I avoid multitasking and each step must be small. My attention is fleeting so I often lose track of what I’m doing. I strictly rely on the clock because my innate sense of time is quite poor. I struggle to organize my thoughts into a ‘big picture’ and prioritize tasks accordingly.”
Apart from the physical challenges, Cody also sustained a brain injury that wiped away some of his memories from recent years
Although he appears positive in his posts, his revelations reflect how his brain injury completely changed his life.
“At times, I’ve even become sad about my persistent brain fog and then forgotten why I’m sad. Once neural fatigue sets in, stress builds, or I get overstimulated, my brain function declines and it can manifest in my motor function. My foot begins to drag, my toes curl, my hand shakes, or I lean to the side. I can get so ‘brain fried’ sometimes that I become illogical and struggle to connect cause with effect. Brain injury permeates all of my life,” he continued.
“I joke that she won me over a second time,” he said about falling in love with the woman of his dreams
Despite the hardships, Cody has been sharing his journey toward normalcy online while Haley pushes him on with love and support.
The couple attended a wedding in Guatemala last March and were able to tick off Cody’s bucket list entry of reaching the top of Acetenango volcano.
The lovebirds have been together for more than a year as Cody advocates for brain injury awareness online
@codys.comeback 50 First Dates or make our own movie?🙊🤍 #dating #relationship #fyp #love #datingstorytime #recovery #girlfriend ♬ My Love Mine All Mine – Mitski
@codys.comeback Watch to the end for lava 😱 Achieving a bucket list hike means so much more after my accident. 🌋 #recovery #health #tbi #hiking #progress #nature #braininjury ♬ Unstoppable (I put my armor on, show you how strong I am) – Sia
“From being told I would never walk again 18 months ago, to completing a world-class two-day trek up a volcano in Guatemala,” he wrote on social media. “This hike was a dream of mine even before my accident, so doing it now is even more meaningful. An epic view and accomplishing something many thought I’d never do again combined for quite the emotional experience.”
Cody and Haley have been together for more than a year and are supporting each other as he advocates for brain injury awareness online.
Netizens agreed that their love story was fit to be turned into a movie script
