Brain Injury Survivors Zachary Zarembinski, 25, and Isabelle Richard, 23, Plan September Wedding
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 10
Brain Injury Survivors Zachary Zarembinski, 25, and Isabelle Richard, 23, Plan September Wedding
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 10
Summary
September will bring the wedding of Zachary Zarembinski and Isabelle Richard in Red Wing, Minnesota, after the pair met through recovery from traumatic brain injuries at the same St. Paul hospital.
2018 injuries put both teens into medically induced comas at Regions Hospital, and their families stayed connected after Richard’s mother sought hope from Zarembinski’s early progress.
2024 reconnection through a Facebook post turned into dating, and Zarembinski proposed in November 2025 at the hospital while the couple were recording their “Hope in Healing” podcast.
Both still live with some memory loss, but their health has improved: Zarembinski says he has been seizure-free since February 2025, and Richard now works at the grocery store she was headed to before her crash.
The wedding will include relatives who helped bring them together and medical staff who treated them, capping a yearslong recovery that became a shared public story of healing.