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EXCLUSIVE: Married At First Sight bride Lyndall opens up on her debilitating disease diagnosis

''I hate it, but I wouldn't change it.''
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Up until last year, 2023 Married At First Sight Australia’s bride Lyndall believed she wouldn’t live to walk down the aisle. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a baby, she was told she wouldn’t make it to 30.

Cystic fibrosis is a debilitating disease which damages the lungs, digestive tract and other organs which can be life-threatening.

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. Now the 27-year-old has walked down the aisle on the tenth season of MAFS Australia.

At a young age, Lyndall was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

(Image: Instagram)

“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 admits life has been challenging with cystic fibrosis, 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.

Lyndall can’t wait to get married!

(Image: Phillip Castleton)

“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. And we’re hoping Cameron, her new husband on MAFS, could be the one!

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“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 Australia airs on 9 and 9Now.

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