SILVER STANDARD: John and Susan Seager, who are celebrating their silver wedding, with daughter Anna, who is 24 Picture: Garry Atkinson

BELOW: Flashback to 1977 and John and Susan play with toddler Anna, then aged one

A couple who met when their wheelchairs were loaded into an ambulance taking them to a Ryedale special school have celebrated their silver wedding.

And the daughter they hardly dared hope for was at their side to mark their special day.

Susan Seager, 57, who hails from Easingwold, was born with spina bifida.

She was only eight when she met John, then seven, from Great Habton, near Malton, who was paralysed from the waist down after contracting polio at the age of five.

It was back in February 1952 that they met on their way to Welburn Hall special school, near Kirkbymoorside, which had opened only weeks earlier.

"After school, we sort of kept in touch," said Susan.

"We got back together because the school has a garden fete every year on the first Saturday in July, and we go back as old scholars."

Susan said: "Some of us went out for a meal afterwards. In fact we still do that."

Romance between John and Susan was not on the agenda, at least initially. She recalled: "We sort of went together for a while, and then it petered out."

It was some time later that they got back together, leading to marriage in 1975.

Their able-bodied daughter Anna, born 11 months after the wedding, is now a 24-year-old radiographer working in Doncaster.

When Anna was a baby, John and Susan described her as a precious "miracle" and the perfect seal to their marriage.

They remain intensely proud of the daughter whose birth was a personal triumph.

The couple decided to try for a baby without seeking specialist advice in case they were warned off due to the risks involved.

Susan kept the pregnancy secret until after 14 weeks, when tests showed the embryo was not affected by spina bifida.

John, who worked as a clerk-telephonist at Rogers garden centre in Pickering for about 30 years until taking early retirement about six years ago, can recall bouncing Anna on his knee and changing nappies.

Referring to their disabilities, Susan said: "We both understand what each other has to put up.

"One of you can't go around moaning and groaning because the other will say 'shut up, I've got the same problem'."

She added: "We have arguments the same as everyone else. But it isn't easy to pack up and go, so we sort it out."

The couple, who live in Pickering, celebrated their anniversary with a party on Saturday at Raskelf village hall, near Easingwold, attended by family and friends - including old schoolmates.

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