Woman continues to care for ex-husband following traumatic brain injury along with new husband

A woman still cares for her ex-husband following his traumatic brain injury and her new husband even helps out.

Back in 2008, Kristen Armstrong received a life-changing phone call. Her husband Brandon Smith had been involved in a horror car crash.

Smith, then 24, was in the neuro trauma intensive care unit. He and his 23-year-old wife had been married for two years and were high school sweethearts.

But Smith's health condition went on to change both their lives completely - including their relationship.

Smith ended up in a coma for two months and was moved into a Texas nursing care facility as he required constant care.

“They couldn’t tell me if he was alive or not,” Armstrong, now 38, told TODAY.com. “I remember asking my mom, ‘What will I do if Brandon is gone?’

“Even though Brandon’s doctors warned me that if he did wake up, he would be forever changed because of his severe traumatic brain injury, I held onto hope that a miracle would happen and he’d be the same Brandon.

"But he wasn’t. Every morning I woke up and I was hit by this train of sadness. I was grieving a living person, and that was very complicated and isolating.”

She’d planned to spend the rest of her life with her ‘soulmate’, dreaming of having Smith’s kids. But when she learned he’d never be the same again, Armstrong decided to get a divorce.

But when she made this ‘gut-wrenching’ choice, she did promise to look after him forever.

TikTok/@followmetothemouse

Armstrong later married her new man, James Armstrong, in 2015. And pretty extraordinarily, he is helping care for Smith too.

“We bring Brandon to our house every week and we take him out to restaurants," she said. “What makes it really beautiful is how much my family has accepted Brandon as a part of their family.”

The devoted ex-wife now shares TikTok videos of their life, with a clip of her new husband feeding her old one in a restaurant getting over seven million views.

She wrote in the caption: “So grateful for this man who not only chose me but chose B too.”

“Your husband is 1 in a million. I don’t know many men or women that would do that!" one person commented.

While another added: "If my heart could explode, it would’ve already. God bless you all and thank you for showing us that there are people out there with hearts."

Topics: Health, TikTok, US News, Viral, Sex and Relationships

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_