A man who cares for the ex-husband of his wife has said he'd sacrifice marriage if it meant a 'miracle treatment' being discovered.
Brandon Smith had been building a life with his wife Kris Armstrong when the unthinkable happened.
While out driving, Brandon's car was t-boned by another vehicle, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury and requiring round the clock care.
The pair had met at high school and married at just 21 years old.
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Kris knew that she never wanted to abandon her first love, but came to the awful realisation that they would no longer be able to have a family together.
So, she made the heartbreaking decision to divorce him, but instead became his legal guardian so she could care for him.
When she met her current husband James Armstrong, she made it clear that Brandon was part of the deal.
Speaking to PEOPLE Magazine, she said: "I knew that I loved him [Brandon] dearly, wanted to take care of him, and to still be in his life.
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“And I knew of the people in his life, I was the most able to care for him.”
James has since helped Kris to care for Brandon, and developed his own bond with him.
He told CBS Mornings: “It’s not just loving her, it’s loving Brandon, too. He needs us. He needs people that love him.”
Not only that, but James has even said that if a miracle cure for Brandon's condition were found, he would step aside.
Kris said: “He said if some miracle treatment happens for people with a brain injury and Brandon can be healed, he said I would want you to be with him, you were with him first."
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James was also concerned about what Brandon thinks of him, telling PEOPLE: “My heart just poured out to him, just seeing him in a wheelchair, unable to care for himself and not there mentally for the most part.
“I hope he doesn’t view me as the bastard that has taken his wife, but he can’t really verbalize anything.”
Kris and James now have two children together aged four and five, who call Brandon 'Uncle Brandon'.
James also has a 14-year-old son who has formed his own bond with Brandon.
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Each year Kris has to go back to court to re-submit the paperwork for her legal guardianship of Brandon.
And every year, she says that she includes in the paperwork a picture of the family all together, with her, James, the children, and Brandon.
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