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A Texas husband moved in with his wife’s disabled ex-husband and devoted himself to helping care for him.
James Armstrong, 36, married wife Kris, 38, in 2016, but their relationship came with an unusual arrangement.
Kris and James on their wedding day
Kris is the legal guardian of her high school sweetheart and ex-husband, 38-year-old Brandon, who suffered severe brain damage in a car accident two years after their 2006 wedding.
Kris and Brandon on their wedding day
As a result, Brandon was left with dramatically reduced mental and physical capacity, and unable to care for himself.
After years of caring for Brandon as his wife, Kris decided she needed to move on with her life, but did not want to give up on him. So, she divorced him, and then filed paperwork to become his legal guardian.
When James met Kris, he knew Brandon would be a part of their lives, but was more than happy to welcome him into his life.
“It’s not just loving her, it’s loving Brandon, too,” James told CBS Mornings.
“He needs us. He needs people that love him.”
Together the couple do everything with Brandon, from changing and bathing him, to feeding him and bringing him to medical appointments. Kris and James are with Brandon every step of the way.
“I think in the physicality of him helping Brandon, that’s one piece. The fact that we change Brandon together, I can do it by myself but it’s very, very hard,” Kris said.
“James helps me, that is such a gift of love,” she added.
The blended family also includes James and Kris’ kids, who dote on Brandon and refer to him as their “uncle.”
Despite the life they’ve created together, James said he would give it all up in a moment if there was an opportunity for Brandon to recover.
“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,” Kris said.
“And I don’t think that’s gonna happen, but just the fact that, you’re a very special person, you really are,” she told James in the interview with CBS Mornings.
James maintains he’s just doing what he thinks is right.
“I do what my heart tells me to do,” he said.
James’ love for Brandon is so profound, he said he would still take care of him even if Kris was no longer around to do so herself.
“I also told her if anything happens to her or she passes away, I will fight for guardianship. He will have another advocate,” James said.
Brandon now lives in a nursing home, but Kris and James regularly drop in to visit and take care of him, and document their life with him on their TikTok account.
See video below.
Watch this. It’ll remind that humans are GOOD. Grab a tissue. pic.twitter.com/6T8T5nJetn
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) March 4, 2024
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