By Andrew and Fiona

In 2000 a young man by the name of Andrew Robert Sertich was browsing online when he decided to do a quick search through the AOL member search. He thought of trying to contact somebody in similar circumstances to himself. Somebody who had the understanding. Andrew has spinal muscular atrophy type III (SMA). SMA is a condition of the anterior horn cells, which are abnormal, meaning not all the nerve impulses, are passed from the brain to the muscles, which in turn cause weakening, wasting and atrophying of the volentery muscles. SMA causes Andrew to be wheelchair bound, so this became part of his search for understanding. Fiona and Andy The AOL search tool gives you lists of contacts of your interest and so happened amongst those contacts was a young girl who lived in Lancashire, England, who was also affected by a neuromuscular disorder, which held some similarities, but they didn't know until they started talking. How a brief search turned into a connection to something much more complex, specific and complete? Fiona Violet Rose Anderson was born with multicore-minicore myopathy, one of the rare congenital myopathies. It is caused by shortened undeveloped muscle fibers and a missing protein of which the function of is still unknown. This causes weakness, wasting and myalgia.

"Make a dream a reality, nothing is impossible"

They soon became good friends through talking on AOL instant messenger, sharing many things in common - particularly a love for Harry Potter books!

Andrew and Fiona met when they were 16 and 11 years old, respectively, and somewhat "grew up together" communicating through the internet. They'd spend hours talking, playing online games such as pool and chess. You could even catch them playing online mini golf. They became so close, even Fiona's parents sort of knew something was going to happen and they often wrote their famous goodnight phrase "love you as always" before signing out.

In 2002 Fiona went into hospital for three weeks for scoliosis surgery and gave Andrew her address so he could write her. He did and signed off "Love" at the end of every letter. They both knew they had deeper feelings for each other but at the time it was difficult to imagine anything would ever happen with the distance. So they just got on with it, worrying if it was made more obvious to each other it would destroy their strongly built friendship.

They scheduled special timings for when they'd meet online after Fiona came home. She couldn't sit up for long so Andrew did his absolute best in distracting her from the pain with his reassurance, Harry Potter theories and charm.

In Spring 2003 Andrew had a wish granted by Make-A-Wish foundation in America. Not his original wish though, he wanted to go see the Harry Potter Premier in London then meet Fiona whilst he was in England but they couldn't grant it. So he settled for a shopping spree in which he bought a new computer and an ID bracelet with Fiona engraved on it. His niece was also on the way and he bought her first gift. That set the trend for the boxes of presents. Every Christmas, birthday or for any reason at all they'd send boxes of presents back and forth from country to country for each other. Everything from teddy bears, valentines cards, clothes, jewelry, DVDs, videos and photographs.

Around April 2004 Fiona applied for a wish but she didn't tell Andrew till the forms were sent back. She applied with Dreams Come True. Andrew was shocked to learn that she had wished to go to see him in California USA. Though they knew the waiting list was long and it'd be hard to do they were still excited. On 10 October 2004 Andrew, aged 19, proposed online. Finally after four years they became a couple.

It wasn't until 21 June 2005 when Fiona's wish was granted and she flew out to California. The trip was hard and she wasn't well. But all that changed when they saw each other for the very first time, not on webcams or in photographs but actually in person. They had a wonderful couple of weeks together - they went to the cinema, to the county fair, saw Eddie Money in concert and on a special dinner cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge they exchanged rings. It was an unforgettable point in there lives.

They spent 4 July together. It was a very sad day because she was leaving the next day but that night there was a star in the sky, let’s hope that the star remembers the next wish they wished that night. The next few months were a blur, in shock and extremely devastated from being thrown back to the computer as the main communication.

They didn't file for a visa till 30 September. With the help of Fiona's dad, Matthew, they filed for the K-1 visa for Fiancée’s, with the K-1 visa the rule is they must marry within 90 days of approval in London. Though it is suppose to be the fastest visa to receive, it is now seven months since that date and many things have happened in that time.

Andrew needed to go for urgent spinal surgery to remove tiny rods attached to his pelvis from his early fusion. They were causing him extreme pain and he'd been putting it off for a few years, but it had to be done. Very upsettingly for them both, Fiona couldn't be with him for financial reasons so she stayed at the other end of the telephone. With masses of prayers from friends, family and visitors to their website Andrew made it through and his surgery was a complete success, although it made him slightly weaker.

The couple hope to receive the visa by September this year and get married whilst Fiona's parents are there. The fight hasn't stopped yet, with a medical and interview to go through - as if the last seven months of paperwork hasn't be hard enough already. There is a chance Fiona's medical condition will prevent her passing the immigration medical exam, or their financial status causing a problem at the interview. Andrews’s mum is to be their co-sponsor to help financially and Fiona has doctors' backing and a doctor lined up in America. But whether that alone will be enough for immigration they don't know. Andrew is now 20 and Fiona 17, both out of college and work due to recurrent health issues. They communicate mostly online, with the assistance of webcams, microphones and Yahoo.

Andrew and Fiona wanted to share the message that no matter how impossible things seem, there is always a way, it may be the long and hard way but you need to go for your dreams. Not settle for second best. Fight, or else you're risking your happiness. Living with muscular dystrophy doesn't prevent you from being happy, only you can make yourself happy. And whatever way you need to do that, go for it and don't let anybody else tell you "it's alright to have dreams." Make a dream a reality, nothing is impossible.

If you'd like to visit their website please go to www.sertichfamily.com where you can learn more about the couple, the K-1 visa, muscular dystrophy and they have a very amusing US-UK conversion chart. You will also find their update blog and a timeline so you can check to see how far along they are with the visa and we hope to see wedding photos up soon!