Friedman, 25, was paralyzed from the collarbone down when a friend playfully pushed her into a pool at her bachelorette party in May. She hit her head on the bottom, suffering a spinal cord injury and was told she'd be unlikely to walk again.
The Virginia couple, appearing this morning on NBC's "Today" show, say they hope to get married next summer.
"I never once thought about leaving her or the situation," Chapman said. "It was simply a matter of, we're a couple, we're going to get through this."
A new wedding date hasn't been set. Their marriage would complicate their finances, though, giving them a combined income that would make Friedman ineligible for the Medicaid insurance needed for her care.
Still, Friedman, who has regained the use of her arms and can type with her thumb, was hopeful.
"We're trying really, really hard to get through all those things, because I'm determined," she told NBC. "I'm going to marry him, one way or another."
Chapman, a schoolteacher, says he's trying to help Friedman as much as he can. "Simply being there as much as I can, helping out in the ways that I can and taking my role in the family to do and show all the support that I can," he said.
He acknowledged how hard it can be. "I've certainly had moments where I felt it would be very difficult and have had a hard time coming to terms with what the possible future could be," he said. "But one day at a time, we just keep working through it."
Friedman said she wasn't surprised at Chapman's commitment. "I knew he'd be there for me," she said. "I would be there for him. If the roles had been reversed, I would have been there."
Friedman, who was hospitalized for three months after the accident, says she's doing well and thinks her positive attitude has helped.
"I was told I progressed very quickly for someone with my injury," said Friedman, who now undergoes outpatient therapy. "I just worked really hard to do what I could as fast as I could."
She added, "Almost all of it is attitude. If you're not willing to go and do the work to get better, you won't."
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She's had some hard days too. "Everyone gets sad," she said. "But you can't focus on those moments. You have to move on. Think about what you can do, not what you can't do."When the couple does get married, among those invited will be the friend that pushed her, a best friend whom Friedman declines to identify.
"I didn't even have to forgive her," Friedman said. "I never blamed her in the first place. It was an accident, a freak accident. It could have happened to anyone. It could've been the other way around."
The friend, though, is having a tough time, Friedman said. "My whole family supports her," she said. "I think it's helping her get through it."