text: Five days before college sweethearts Brittany Huber and John Redman were to wed last May, a horrific car crash on a Georgia highway killed the young bride and left her fiance clinging to life. Redman survived, but his body was left shattered and he was told by his doctors that he was likely to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home, confined to a wheelchair. The future looked bleak for the 25-year-old assistant basketball coach at Dalton State College, but against overwhelming odds Redman recovered, and on March 24 he helped lead his team to a championship title. Tragic couple: Brittany Huber and John Redman were involved in a deadly car crash just days before their wedding last spring. The bride to be was killed on impact and the groom was left clinging to life . Bittersweet moment: Eleven months later, Redman, assistant basketball coach at Dalton State College, helped lead his team to its very first championship title. Sadly, Huber was not there to celebrate with Redman . Victory: The Dalton Roadrunners beat Westmont College of California 71-53 in Kansas City on March 24 - 11 months after Redman's (third from the right) accident . 'To me, it was almost a relief,' Redman told Al.com of the win - the team's first since it has become eligible to take part in the championship. 'I had such a long year personally. ... It was very emotional in more ways than anybody could understand.' But for Redman, standing on the court in Kansas City and celebrating the Dalton Roadrunners' first-ever NAIA championship victory - they beat Westmont College of California 71-53 - was a bittersweet moment because his biggest cheerleader, Brittany, was not there. 'Now I realize more and more each day what I learned from her and what I learned from that whole situation so yea, good things can happen from bad things,' he said. The past 11 months have been the most challenging in John Redman's life. On April 28, 2014, Redman was driving his future wife from Dalton, Georgia, to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama, when he lost control of his Lexus in a rainstorm. The car blew a tire, hydroplaned and smashed into a bridge column on Interstate 85 in Merriweather County, Georgia, killing the 23-year-old bride in impact. Inseparable: The couple had been together since 2011 and were just five days from their wedding . Wreckage: They were driving from Georgia to her hometown of Mobile, Alabama when Redman lost control of his car and smashed into the median, killing his fiancee on impact . 'I don't remember the accident at all,' Redman told 11 Alive. The young basketball coach was rushed to a hospital and spent more than two weeks in a coma with five broken ribs, three surgically removed ribs, 21 skull fractures and eight broken teeth. 'They [doctors] told my parents I'd be in assisted living the rest of my life... that I'd never come back to work. I'd be in a wheelchair. I might never talk again,' Redman recalled. After a month in the hospital, Redman finally asked to see Brittany for the first time since the accident. 'I was mad at her because she hadn't come to visit me. I'm in the hospital, she hasn't visited me one time,' he said. That is when Huber's parents broke the devastating news to Redman that his wife-to-be didn't make it. Redman and Huber had been together since the fall of 2011, and the couple got engaged in June 2013. In July of that year, then-23-year-old graduate of Spring Hill College was hired as assistant men's basketball coach at Dalton State. His fiancee worked as a kindergarten teacher’s aide at City Park Elementary School. Huber had a severe hearing impairment since she was a girl, but her students and people who met her for the first time often couldn’t pick up on it because of her uncanny ability to read lips . Hanging by a thread: Redman survived the crash but was left with a cracked skull and broken ribs, and was told he would likely spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. For the first month in the hospital, he had no idea that Huber has died . Miracle: Against overwhelming odds, Redman recovered and was able to walk out of the hospital and resume coaching (pictured) On the eve of their fateful road trip to Mobile, Brittany wrote on her Instagram page: ‘I can't wait to ride on this journey with him and see what our amazing God has in store for us.’ Just hours before her death, Huber posted a photo of their journey, with the caption: 'It is finally wedding week!' The church where the couple were due to marry on May 3 was instead the venue for her memorial service. Seven women wore matching mint green dresses - their bridesmaids dresses - to the service,AL.com reported at the time. John Redman says he felt Brittany's presence in the hospital every day, as always cheering him on. 'I felt Brittany was there the whole time, and she was telling me to get up, get out, you don't want to be here, go live your life,' he recalled. And that is exactly what Redman did, to the surprise of his doctors who called his recovery a miracle. Back on the court: Redman (far right) started out slowly, working part-time at Dalton a couple of hours a day . Smiling again: Redman said that working with the team, including assistant men's basketball coach Tony Ingle Jr (left), was a form of therapy for him . 'When you hear a doctor say you're a miracle, you probably are a miracle, they don't use that world very easily or lightly,’ he told WRCB. After weeks of physical therapy, Redman resumed coaching. He started out slowly, working part-time a couple of hours a day and using his time with the team as a form of therapy. 'Just having something to look forward to, and something to do, it's given me hope, made me excited again. They saved my life,' Redman said. That is why for Redman and the Roadrunners, winning the title for the first time since Dalton launched its basketball program two years ago was more than a sports victory. ‘It really has been the best year and the worst year of my life,' Redman concluded.
target: Brittany Huber, 23, was killed on impact when fiance John Redman, 25, lost control of his Lexus in Georgia April 28, 2014 .
  The couple were heading to Alabama where they were set to get married May 3 .
  Redman suffered head trauma and multiple broken bones, and was told by his doctors he would likely spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair .
  The fiance only found out about Brittany's death a month later .
  Redman regained his ability to walk and resumed coaching at Dalton State College .
  On March 24, he helped lead his team to its first championship title .