4 Hot Husband Heroes

When life tested their vows of “for better or for worse,” these guys rose courageously to the challenge.

An Infantry Squad Leader in the Army, Chaz, 32, lost both of his legs above the knee when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan in January 2011. But it didn’t break him. “He took his first steps on March 21, and hand-biked the Army Ten Miler in less than an hour in October,” says his wife, Jessica. “Nothing slows him down. Now he’s closer to our two daughters than ever. He’s my hero.”

Michael, 36, had been married to his wife, Nancy, for two years when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “He was there for every treatment,” says Nancy. “He rubbed my head when the chemo headaches were too much, and reminded me that we only get stronger during the hard times.” Now in remission, Nancy knows she’s in safe hands: “He’ll do anything for me.”

After a decade of marriage to Philip, 32, Chrisy Gambrell had a stroke, leaving her husband to care for her and their two kids on his own. “He helped me relearn to walk, washed my hair, and carried me upstairs when I couldn’t make it,” Chrisy says. Now she’s is in nursing school—something her doctors told her she couldn’t take on. “If Philip says I can do it, I know I can.”

Ryan, 34, met Jessica online after both of their first spouses died of brain cancer. “It was love at first email,” says Jessica. They married within the year, and the couple now has seven kids between them. “Ryan loves them all equally. I have a special-needs son who he sings a song to every night,” she says. And he’s helping Jessica get her master’s degree: “He’s my rock in so many ways!”