Woman who escapes fire, celebrates wedding

CASTLE ROCK (CNN) - Lenise Ruff thought for a moment her wedding on Saturday might not happen. The bride-to-be and her bridesmaid, Marilyn Kruc, were forced to jump out of a third floor window after their apartment complex went up in flames early Monday morning.

Despite breaking two vertebrae and spending the last five days in the hospital, Kruc told her friend she was determined to be there to see her best friend walk down the aisle.

In Kruc's absence, Ruff spent Saturday afternoon with her mother and closest friends, while they helped her prepare for her wedding ceremony. Her mother carefully laced up her beautiful wedding gown as her other bridesmaids delicately placed her pearl necklace around her neck and made sure every hair was perfectly in place.

\"This day is something I've always looked forward to, but I'm just happy I'm here,\" Ruff said.

Ruff says after she and her best friend narrowly escaped the apartment fire on Monday she has an entirely new outlook on her wedding day and life. She says she appreciates her friends and family so much more and has realized material things don't matter in life.

Just before 5 p.m. on Saturday, Kruc pulled up to the venue with her back brace and a walker. Both ladies were in tears as they gently embraced each other.

Kruc made it. She was there to slowly walk down the aisle and witness the most important day in her best friend's life.

\"She's in pain, but like I said she's a strong courageous woman and it means the world to us that she's here,\" Ruff said tearfully.

Kruc is expected to make a full recovery in the next few months.

Ruff and her husband, Sam Brown, will leave Sunday afternoon for Hawaii where they will spend their honeymoon, before they move in together.

(KUSA-TV © 2014 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)