How this woman’s husband and ex became best friends

By Emma Dunn via SWNS

A woman says her husband and her ex are now best friends and the couple are even caregivers for him.

Kris Armstrong, 38, met her high school sweetheart Brandon, 38, when the pair were teenagers and tied the knot after five years of dating.

Brandon was involved in a car crash and left with life-changing brain injuries.

Kris made the difficult decision to move Brandon to a nursing home – just five minutes from her home – but continued to care for him despite their marriage ending.

She became his legal guardian after getting divorced and later met her now husband, James, 36, a technician.

James welcomed Brandon with open arms - and the two men see each other as family, she said.

Kris, a speech pathologist, from Texas, said: “It’s the phone call nobody wants to get - saying Brandon had been in an accident.

"I was 24 with my whole life ahead of me.

“It was incredibly heart-breaking.

“I'm so happy James and Brandon get along.

“James helps me when we bring Brandon home.

“He shows love and compassion for Brandon.

“The other day Brandon said ‘James and I should go for a beer’.

“Brandon doesn’t often say much that makes sense so I knew there was a connection.

“Brandon has more people to love him now.”

After meeting when they were 15 and 16, Kris and Brandon tied the knot in August 2006.

Kris said: “He was kind and gentle. He made me feel very loved.”

Brandon was rushed to the hospital when a lorry crashed into the side of his car in November 2008.

He was in a coma for two months and was left with severe brain damage.

He uses a wheelchair, needs help with eating, going to the toilet and getting dressed and struggles with his short-term memory and speech.

Kris said: “They didn’t think he was going to survive.

“When they called me to tell me, they wouldn’t tell me if he was alive or not.

“I felt very hopeless in the early days.”

Brandon initially came home to stay with Kris but she found it difficult to sustain his care.

She moved Brandon to a nursing home just five minutes from her house and continued to be his primary caregiver.

Two years after the accident Kris started to move on.

She said: “I was grieving him even though he was alive.

“Then I had a pivotal moment - it’s ok to grieve. It’s ok to miss him.

“I realised I had to let go and to love this new person now.”

Kris started looking into how she could become Brandon’s legal guardian and at the same time started divorce proceedings.

She said: “The judge asked me 'what happens if you get married again?'.

“I said – ‘he’s my family. I’ll love him and take care of him until the day I die’.”

Kris decided to go back to university and train to become a speech pathologist – and graduated in 2014.

She said: “I was looking for something to find meaning. Speech therapy resonated with me.”

Shortly after she met her now husband James online and they hit it off and met after just a few weeks of speaking.

Kris said: “I met his son on our first meeting and he met Brandon the next day.

“I came out of the bathroom and James had his arm around Brandon.”

Kris and James got married in September 2016 and have since welcomed two daughters together – five and three.

Brandon remains a part of their family and they all make sure they see him often.

Kris said: “We'll take him to eat, to the church or back to our home.

"It’s such a gift that we talk about family we talk about Brandon.

“I don’t discount the fact that I’m so grateful to have this beautiful family.

“I’ll never not be sad that Brandon didn’t get to live his life.

“I’ll never live further than five minutes from him.”