MEDFORD — Brittany Miller’s bridal dream to walk down the aisle without the aid of her pink crutches looks like it will become a reality.

“I feel so blessed to be a part of this community,” she said after donations began to pour in following an earlier story about her plight. “It’s been overwhelming, the generous acts of kindness people have offered to me, someone they’ve never met before.”

The 20-year-old Jacksonville resident lost her right leg above the knee due to medical complications after Brittany contracted a simple case of the flu. A Jan. 1 newspaper story about Brittany’s plight has garnered an outpouring of assistance to help the former South Medford High School cheerleader and honor student regain a custom-made prosthetic leg she was forced to return when her insurance company refused to pay for the bionic limb.

Donations to pay for her prosthesis are now just over $11,000, according to representatives of Spectrum Orthotics and Prosthetics in Medford.

A local motorcycle club has offered to champion Brittany’s cause this spring and hopes to raise another $10,000 toward the $25,000 goal. Offers of a country club wedding venue, fine dining catering options and opportunities to speak to children about overcoming adversity also are pouring in, she said.

“Piece by piece, I am really hopeful I am going to get my leg,” Brittany said.

The Southern Oregon University coed on Monday attended her first day of classes on the Ashland campus, where she is studying early childhood education.

She’s also dreaming of her Aug. 18 wedding to her fiance and Timber Products mill worker C.J. Mitchell — which the Rogue Valley Country Club has now offered to host free of charge.

“It literally makes me so happy I can’t even express myself,” Brittany said. “C.J. is so happy for me. He is so excited to get married.”

Brittany’s family is also excited at the turn of events — and thankful the bride-to-be is alive to receive the support of her community, said her mom, Brenda Miller.

Nearly a year ago, on Jan. 15, 2011, Brenda took her daughter to the Rogue Valley Medical Center emergency room, where doctors initially thought the normally healthy, active teen was simply dehydrated.

But her oldest daughter didn’t get better as doctors working on her discovered her heart was failing. She was rushed to Stanford University Medical Center, in anticipation of a heart transplant. Brittany’s kidneys, liver and pancreas were also failing. She spent the next month comatose on a heart/lung machine as sepsis and lack of circulation took a toll on her extremities.

Brittany’s right leg suffered the worst damage during the many medical interventions. Doctors first took her limb below the knee. But when Brittany’s fever spiked after the surgery, she was returned to surgery, and this time the amputation point was above the knee, Brenda said.

When Brittany was transferred back to RVMC on Feb. 16, she was still on a ventilator, dialysis, and dealing with the effects of organ failure. She was also still on feeding tubes and weighed only 84 pounds.

But Brittany battled though every obstacle. And she was determined to walk on her own.

Brittany was fitted with a microprocessor-controlled knee unit by Patrick Patterson, a specialist with Spectrum Orthotics and Prosthetics in Medford. The computerized, articulating orthotic was specially fitted to Brittany, and designed for a young, active user.

But Brittany’s insurance company, Cigna, denied coverage for the $40,000 prosthetic, Patterson said, because Brittany had reached the maximum benefit under her policy. Appeals by the Millers and Spectrum were denied. Brittany has had to return her prosthetic until she can pay the $25,000 balance, Brenda said.

From the moment Brittany’s story hit the Mail Tribune on New Year’s Day, the Millers’ phone has not stopped ringing. Everywhere they go, someone has something wonderful to say, or to offer, Brittany said.

“Before, we’d cry and cry over these obstacles and then try to figure out a way around them,” Brenda said. “Now they’re all tears of joy.”

Brenda said Brittany has given her the job of ferreting out the addresses of every person who has donated, so that Brittany can write a personal thank you — even the anonymous ones.

“I told her that’s going to take awhile. She said, ‘Mom, I don’t care how long it takes,’ ” Brenda said, adding she’s happy to help her daughter express her gratitude.

“Brittany feels she has a portion of her life back. How do you put a price on that?”