AN Eastleigh couple is putting out a plea for help to turn their dream of getting married into a reality, before it's too late.

Leigh Bullis, 23, from Eastleigh has a life limiting condition and the top item on her bucket list is to marry the love of her life, Reign Bayes.

Both women are chronically ill and have to spend almost all of their time in bed. Leigh has severe Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder. She cannot walk or stand and her sight, hearing and all her organs are affected.

She is fed through a line which goes straight to her heart, avoiding her stomach. She is visited by three nurses a day, whose tasks include changing the medicine in her syringe driver, which gives her 24-hour anti-sickness medication. She has a hoist to get her in and out of bed.

She has a hoist to get her in and out of bed and her joints regularly dislocate, causing her agonising pain.

She has been in and out of hospital for years, and spent much of 2016 in hospital as doctors attempted to make her stable enough to go home.

Her condition is deteriorating and she is keen to marry Reign before it worsens considerably.

“There’s nothing that can really be done for me,” says Leigh.

“It’s a severe and complex case. Some people with EDS can still work, but for me, it’s symptom management and trying to slow things down where we can.”

Reign is also chronically ill, although her conditions are not life-limiting.

She suffers from ME, fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease, autonomic dysfunction, hypermobility and autism.

She became ill with glandular fever in year seven and her health deteriorated, with her missing a great deal of school.

“I spent most of my time in bed,” says the 21-year-old.

“I was very lonely and had no friends. Eventually it got to the point where I could only walk a couple of metres and I have to be in a wheelchair.”

But their lives turned around when they met each other on the internet.

And despite their difficulties, the couple is very happy and desperate to tie the knot.

“Leigh is incredibly positive,” says Reign.

“All her nurses and doctors wonder how on earth she isn’t depressed! She is the light of my life.”

They were all set to get married in June this year, and had arranged a venue free of charge, as well as a number of other services that were being donated. But unfortunately, the venue became unavailable and as they are both unable to work, have almost no budget to make their dreams a reality.

So they are hoping for donations, either financial, via their crowdfunding Go Fund Me page, or for everything from floral teapots to bridesmaids’ dresses, to be given or loaned to them for their big day.

The pair met in 2016 through a Facebook chat group for people with chronic illnesses.

Neither of them was looking for love.

“I 100 per cent wasn’t looking for a relationship and definitely didn’t want to get married. But from the moment we started talking, we knew we wanted to be together,” says Leigh.

“It sounds really soppy, but it was genuinely like I’d found my soulmate straight away,” adds Reign, who was living in Cornwall when they met.

“We are so similar. We can predict each other’s thoughts and say things the other one was about to say, even if it’s completely out of the blue.

“She makes me so ridiculously happy. We’re always cuddling, we’re really soppy.”

The couple’s first date was in hospital.

Leigh was suffering from kidney failure and Reign’s father made an eight hour round trip so that the couple, who had been chatting online and on the phone, could have their first real date.

“I felt awful but it was amazing to meet her after talking for so long,” says Leigh.

Reign proposed to Leigh at her birthday party in Cornwall.

The journey had been tough for Leigh, who had travelled in a camper van so that she could lie down for most of the journey.

“I’m obsessed with Disney. I’m autistic and it’s my specialist interest. I love the film Up, and I’d painted a ring box with balloons from the film, and filled it with dried petals from roses that I’d saved from our first date.

“I hadn’t been sure when I was going to ask her, but I did it in front of some of my closest friends. It just felt right to be surrounded by the people I love.”

It turned out that Leigh had also been planning an Up-related proposal, and later gave Reign a scrap book similar to the one featured in the film, with a proposal in it.

And the couple had begun planning their wedding before they were even engaged, on a ‘hospital date’, when Reign kept Leigh company on a day in hospital.

The couple were engaged in July last year and moved in together in October.

They plan to change their surnames to Baylis when they are married.

As they are confined to their bed for the majority of the time, only able to get out of their home a few times a month, they spend a lot of their time watching movies together, especially Disney films.

They also both love crafts, and when they have the energy, Leigh crochets, while Reign knits, and they both enjoy cross stitch, card making and even made all their wedding decorations.

The pair were set to get married at Reign’s godparents’ farm in Essex on June 1.

They had put a plea on Facebook for help, and had found a hairdresser, photographer, make-up artist and more arranged close to the venue.

But, unfortunately, badgers have been found in the field where the reception was set to take place and they can no longer get married there.

They are now looking for a venue close to their home in Eastleigh, as travelling can make Leigh very ill, and are hoping to have it on or as close to June 1, as possible, before Leigh’s condition deteriorates further.

And they hope that the local community will rally round to help make their dream a reality.

“We are both on benefits: PIP and Universal Credit,” says Reign.

“I was on ESA before but I had to go onto Universal Credit when I came to Eastleigh, so that’s around £600 less a month. Leigh has been saving all year and we have just spent that all on her dress. It’s just so beautiful and we are only going to get married once, so we decided to go for it,” she adds.

Leigh says that it would be incredible if the couple received help to get married.

“I would be crying forever,” she says.

“It’s the top thing on my bucket list, and it has been ever since we got together. We have been talking about getting married since day one. My health is so unpredictable, it would just mean everything to us.”

Reign adds: “It’s on the top of my bucket list too. I can’t imagine my life without Leigh in it, and being able to call her my wife will be insane, it will be the best feeling ever. I know it sounds goofy, but it would make us so happy, I just want to marry her.”

To help Leigh and Reign make their big day happen, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/randlbayliswedding

Leigh and Reign’s wedding wishlist includes:

  • venue
  • photographer
  • florist
  • hairdressers and make up artists
  • catering
  • wedding rings
  • bridesmaids dresses
  • floral tea sets and tea pots
  • white tablecloths with embroidered flowers
  • glasses