Chelsee’s Story
A True Celebration Of Life 

IT WAS GOING TO BE THE WEDDING CHELSEE ATHERLEY HAD DREAMED OF, as she planned to marry her fiancé, Ben Klemionek on July 23 2005.  But only 10 days before the wedding, a horrific car accident changed everything.  According to a report in the Province newspaper, Chelsee was a passenger in her sister’s car, when it was broadsided by a dump truck at a Langley intersection.  

The truck hit the passenger side, leaving Chelsee with serious brain injuries.  She was flown to Royal Columbian Hospital, where she spent 11 days in a coma, and just over two months that followed in hospital, fighting to recover. 

The wedding postponed, Chelsee submitted to weekly sessions of rehabilitative physiotherapy, buoyed and encourage by the love and dedication of Ben, who has not left her side since the start of her trauma.

The couple set a new date for their wedding, June 17 2006, but embroiled as she was in unresolved financial and insurance legalities surrounding her accident, coupled with the additional expense of her rehabilitative treatment, it was going to be difficult to pay for the wedding.

That’s when a few guardian angels stepped in, the first being Wedding Planner Elana Lancit of A Sweet Beginning.  Chelsee had worked with Lancit in the past and had a close friend, Catherine Taylor, in the wedding planning business.  Lancit felt compelled to intervene and helped this brave young woman overcome the incredible odds she has faced.

“I felt it was a miracle that she was alive,” Lancit confessed.  “I feel it’s important to give back, especially to someone who needs and deserves it so much.”

Lancit contacted all the Vancouver locations for A Sweet Beginning and requested their assistance in planning and decorating the couple’s wedding free of charge.  “They all were excited to pitch in and the idea of helping Chelsee and Ben just snowballed from there,” she says.  Other vendors have pitched in too many offering complimentary services to the couple. 

Chelsee and Ben plan to marry on a family acreage home in Langley, with up to 320 guests to help them celebrate their wedding.  Chelsee has chosen a bright green, fuschia pink and orange colour scheme, accented with orchids, bamboo, candlelight and tropical trees to help set the mood.  Volunteer staff from A Sweet Beginning will use two acres to create a designated ceremony site and cocktail area, with dinner and dancing beneath the tents.

“It’s just amazing,” says Chelsee, of all the assistance she has received from an assortment of bridal industry vendors.  “I never expected it and I don’t know how we could have done it without their help.  I want to thank then all very much.  It’s very much appreciated by me, my fiancé and my whole family.” 

To this day, Chelsee is still in recovery.  “I feel okay, but not back to normal yet,” she admits bravely.  “I still have trouble walking, I can’t work or drive and I can’t do some of the things I did before, like running, dancing and sports.” 

But she certainly feels up to trading I Do’s with Klemionek, her partner for the past six years.  When their big day rolls around on June 17, the couple will join family and friends for a true celebration of life.