LYNDALL TELLS ‘I SHOULDN’T BE ALIVE’

Told she wouldn’t make it past 30, the accountant never thought she’d be a bride

Up until last year, new Married At First Sight bride Lyndall believed she wouldn’t live to walk down the aisle. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis – a debilitating disease that damages the lungs – as a baby, she was told she wouldn’t make it to 30.

However, after a “miracle” medication was approved in early 2022, which could add up to 30 years to her life expectancy, Lyndall bit the bullet and did the unthinkable – she applied for MAFS.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can get married’,” she tells Woman’s Day. “I guess when you’ve been waiting your entire adult life to even let yourself think about marriage, you simply don’t want to wait any longer.”

The Wa-based accountant, now 27, admits life has been challenging with the condition, adding she’s seen her “fair share of bad reactions in the past”, but the blonde beauty isn’t going to let her illness stand in her way any longer.

“I felt for a long time I had to be perfect in every aspect to make up for the ‘burden’ I had, and I felt so guilty about not being able to promise a whole life to someone,” she says, adding that it meant she tried “very hard to avoid long-term relationships”.

“Now I know that it’s never been a burden, and anyone who sees it that way isn’t deserving of me. It’s hard to describe a lot of the time. It’s scary, but it’s normal. It’s strenuous, but it’s just how I’ve always been. I hate it, but I wouldn’t change it.”

Talking of her dream husband, Lyndall says she hopes she finds “a passionate, warm and kind” man at the altar.

“Someone who loves hard and wholeheartedly and isn’t afraid of the ‘messy’ things,” she adds.

And now that she can tick marriage off her bucket list, Lyndall still has plenty of milestones she wants to conquer – only this time, she’ll have a husband by her side.

“I want to travel – I never would have gotten on a plane a year ago – and I want to build a lovely home to spend the rest of my many, many new years in.”

Married At First Sight Monday,

7.30pm, Nine

‘It’s scary and I hate it. But I also wouldn’t change it’