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LONDON - Private Andrew Knisley, the London soldier who lost his leg in Afghanistan this week, has to learn to walk again by the summer, his sister says.
After all, he did promise to walk her down the aisle at her wedding on Aug. 6.
"We're not pushing him, he's walking. He has no choice." his sister, Ruth Knisley, 27, said yesterday.
Knisley was injured Monday while on patrol outside Kandahar when a roadside bomb detonated.
On Monday, he was listed in serious condition and had his right leg amputated.
His condition has stabilized, his sister said.
Knisley also has nerve damage in his right arm, with one nerve completely severed.
Knisley was to be flown to Germany for medical treatment, but his flight was postponed because of his improved condition, said his sister.
"He's doing so well that they actually bumped him to a later flight to Germany," she said.
After treatment in Germany, Knisley will return to Canada -- when that will be is still uncertain -- for further treatment.
Knisley's father, Ken, who will also walk his daughter down the aisle this summer, said the wedding must go on as planned -- that's the way Andrew would want it.
"We aren't postponing the wedding. He will be going down the aisle, the three of us will go," he said. "I can't imagine that this is going to hold Andrew back much at all."
Ruth originally planned to have her father alone accompany her on her wedding-day walk, but she's grown extremely close to her brother while he's been in Afghanistan.
"I've just been so proud of what he has been doing over there that I want to include him in the day." she said.
And knowing her brother and his dedication, she said, his injury won't stop him from being a part of the special day.
"This is a speed bump. One of the surgeons I spoke to said he could be walking without a noticeable limp in six months.
"I think that's being incredibly optimistic, but if anybody is going to be walking like that in six months, it better be Andrew," she said.