How to help a blind bride see red
Cornelle Leach has a stunning Gert-Johan Coetzee wedding dress of crimson satin — but she can only see it if her GoFundMe drive succeeds
I know it sounds cheesy, but it really was a case of love at first sight
Blind bride Cornelle Leach
Like any young bride-to-be, marketing graduate Cornelle Leach, 24, is excited about getting married. But while others obsess about colour schemes, floral bouquets and décor decisions, her dream is simply to see the ethereal beauty of her wedding dress with her own eyes.
Leach’s world is one of darkness. She has a rare disease that, as she describes it, eats away at her retinas, which has resulted in her gradually losing her sight. At her last check-up a month ago she was told her vision — which was 2% two years ago — was now completely gone. She has been told there is no cure, and she will be blind forever.
“My disease is extremely rare, so there is not a lot of research done on it and very few breakthroughs. But for years I did my own research and pursued every breakthrough or little chance of hope, only to be disappointed,” she said.
A few months ago relatives of her fiancé, Russel Woolf, who lives in Berlin, asked her to send them her medical records.
“I was very reluctant to do it because I just did not want to get on that rollercoaster again,” she told the Sunday Times.
Leach and Woolf met four years ago via a dating app. “I know it sounds cheesy, but it really was a case of love at first sight.
“It was meant to be. We met online. I was studying at Potch [North West University] and put a 3km radius as my ideal, and Russel was in Pretoria and set a 10km radius. And somehow the internet decided to match us up when we were 200km apart,” Leach said.
Earlier this year, thanks to the Woolf relatives in Berlin, Leach received promising news of a breakthrough by neurologists. A newfound therapy, designed specifically for her condition, uses electrotherapy to regenerate damaged cells and restore sight.
She followed up with the clinic involved and confirmed that two weeks of intensive (and expensive) therapy could restore up to 70% of her sight — although the final outcome cannot be guaranteed. She was advised to fundraise if necessary.
“It was my dream to have a beautiful white and sparkly wedding dress, and to be able to see it,” she said — so she launched a GoFundMe page, “Help me see my wedding dress”.
Leach, who strode down the catwalk at last year’s South African Fashion Week with her guide dog Vogue to raise awareness for the South African Guide-Dogs Association, approached her connections in the marketing industry for help.
Publicist Jillian Grogor immediately took up the project and approached a top couturier — Gert-Johan Coetzee, who fell in love with the story of Leach and Vogue.
“I am always excited to help, and fashion is so powerful,” said Coetzee when the Sunday Times visited his Sandton studio to see the dress. “Here is a beautiful woman who needs a helluva dress with a helluva photograph, and my job is storytelling through visuals. It’s perfect.”
Leach had in mind a snowy, glittery dress, but Coetzee had other ideas because sparkles “are less impactful” on social media; he felt something much more dramatic was called for.
“I asked Cornelle, ‘How do you feel about red?’” Coetzee recounted.
“I was a bit hesitant,” Leach admitted. “But I knew this dress had to be banging. And it really is breathtaking. I have shown some pictures to a few people and they just gasp, so I am very excited.”
She plans to post photos of herself in the crimson satin creation on her GoFundMe page.
Trying it on at the studio, Leach caressed the satin, smoothing the scarlet crystals at the waist while Coetzee arranged her and the dress for the photographer.
“As you can see, I did not want to go fluffy and sparkly. This is very structural and grand. It’s what I would call a modern twist on African baroque,” Coetzee said, adjusting the skirt and matching veil.
“I also have a beautiful matching veil for Vogue,” he said.
In two weeks’ time Leach and Woolf will climb on a tandem bike and pedal 62km in Ride For Sight, a fundraising drive for other visually impaired people.
And then it’s a waiting game to discover if her GoFundMe efforts bear fruit — and if the eye treatment lets her see her wedding dress.