I’ll beat stammer to vow ‘I do’ on my wedding day
BRIDE-TO-BE Jessica Davies has waged war on her lifelong stammer so she can say “I do” on her wedding day.
Jessica, 24, had been putting off marrying boyfriend Josh Yendle because she was terrified of having to say her vows in public.
She has had the speech impediment since she started talking aged four, and suffered cruel jibes at school.
At work in a clothes store she struggled to talk to customers, and she avoided taking the bus or ordering drinks due to the ordeal of saying the few words needed.
She was so anxious she thought of taking her own life. When she met Josh on Facebook when they were 16 she hid behind messages for months, terrified he would reject her if he heard her speak. But they have been together ever since, and in March last year he proposed. Now a wedding photographer, she said: “I knew I needed to do something because saying my vows was one of my biggest fears.” Jessica of Llantrisant, South Wales, went on the four-day McGuire Programme as part School For Stammerers, on ITV tonight at 9pm. Now she has set a wedding date for 2020. She said: “I’m going to do my own vows. It will mean so much to everyone.”