An able-bodied woman who has recently married a wheelchair-bound man with a neuromuscular illness has hit out at those who have sought to criticise their relationship online.
Twenty-seven-year-old Shane Burcaw and 24-year-old Hannah Aylward got together after a documentary that Shane participated in caused Hannah to reach out to him and tell him that she thought he was funny and cute.
Then, after falling in love across long distance, their relationship blossomed and they finally tied the knot earlier this month in a small Zoom ceremony at home.
Shane has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and has been in a wheelchair with limited movement in his arms and legs since he was two.
Despite that, the pair - who live together in Minnesota - have shed light on inter-abled relationships through their 'Squirmy and Grubs' YouTube channel.
However, after sharing some photos from their big day, Hannah has been accused of being a gold-digger, alongside a whole host of other unedifying and ill-meaning comments from people criticising their relationship.
While the majority of the comments were nice, one person wrote: "Is he rich or something?" Another said their marriage must be 'some kind of joke'.
A third wrote: 'I'm saying this without any apologies, I'm pretty sure that woman married him because of money and not for love.'
One even suggested that Hannah must have another partner for sex, despite the fact that they've covered the subject on their channel.
Now Hannah has hit back at the trolls, posting an emotional message on her Instagram account.
She wrote: "If the past two years of having a YouTube channel have taught me anything, it's that you're never going to be able to educate everyone. No matter what you do, some people will just never come around.
"Worrying about these people's opinions is a waste of time, and as time has gone on, it's become so much easier to genuinely have no internal reaction to comments like these.
"A few years ago, reading words like these was painful. For a while, I held onto the idea that once Shane and I were married, all the people doubting our relationship would realise it was real.
"Now, of course, I'm not that naive. Although it's taken time, I'm able to completely dismiss people like this. Shane and I continue to make content and share our story with the hopes of showing as many people as we can that disabled people are worthy partners.
"Comments like these only encourage us to continue! We're so grateful for all of the people that our story has managed to reach in a positive way."
Despite the negative comments, the couple seem very happy together, and plan to have a bigger ceremony with both their families when the time arises.
In the meantime - like so many others - they had to make do with Zoom.
Shane explained: "The ceremony went really well.
"We weren't sure, doing it over Zoom, how that would go."
His wife added: "Yeah, it was perfect.
"It broke up like once. That was kind of funny. But other than that, it was smooth sailing."
Now, the pair are beginning to think about starting a family together.
Featured Image Credit: InstagramTopics: US News