Joy as op hope man marries

A Shrewsbury man who is in desperate need of a life-saving heart and lung transplant has tied the knot in style, just days after he left hospital.

Ben Hughes married his 19-year-old fiancee, Ayla Louch, on Saturday at the Holy Spirit Church in Sundorne.

The 23-year-old bridegroom, from Springfields, returned home only recently from hospital where he had spent two weeks under going treatment for a leg ulcer.

Ben was born with congenital heart disease and last year he learned that he would need a new pair of lungs as well as a heart transplant earlier than expected.

The keen tennis player has been told by specialists at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital he is one of just a few people in the country - and 37 worldwide - needing the transplant.

His latest spell of hospital treatment left him unable to wear shoes for the ceremony, so both he and Ayla donned slippers to walk down the aisle.

Ben's proud mother, Shane Game, said it marked a wonderful day for her son and his new wife.

She said: "It was wonderful. I did nothing but cry every time I looked at him. It was cold but a beautiful day. They do say the sun shines on the righteous.

"He wasn't nervous before the ceremony. I think it was because it was something they both wanted so much."

She said Ben and Ayla now have a chance to settle in to their new home in Meole Brace.

The pair were greeted at the church by friends and family who took photographs and filmed the happy couple as they arrived separately for Saturday's ceremony.

Ayla arrived in style, travelling to the church with her bridesmaids in a stretch limousine.

The blushing bride stepped out into the bright winter sunshine wearing a classic white dress, while the bridesmaids opted for modern black outfits and pink shawls.

By Andy Robbins