My name is Shauna and I am a typical busy young mum. I try to live my life to the full and be the best mum to my children that I can be, but sometimes I find this difficult as I have severe problems with my eyesight. For years I have suffered discomfort, sensitivity and pain in my eyes which is getting worse and my eyesight is deteriorating rapidly. My ophthalmologist has diagnosed me with Corneal Dystrophy, which is a rare form of disease, which affects the front of my eye. This means I get painful erosions on my eyes which interfere with my sight. I have undergone transplant surgery with two donor corneal grafts but with this particular Corneal Dystrophy, the cells left in my eye that cannot be removed, contain the mutation that cause my disease and they grow back very quickly and I am back to the same stage as I was prior to surgery. I am a primary school teacher and my job is so fulfilling and rewarding but I really depend on my eyes to do it. It really is difficult to cope with living with this disease.
Imagine my horror when I found out that this eye disease is caused by a mutation in a gene we all have and need called TBFGI. Due to the genetic nature of this disease I now know I will pass it on to at least half of my children.
I would like to introduce you to Patrick, my nine year old son. He is a keen soccer player who wants to play for Liverpool when he is older. Patrick is a happy go lucky boy like so many other children his age but over the last few years he has been suffering from discomfort and pain in his eyes, exactly the same as I experienced. Patrick’s eyesight is getting progressively worse and it really frightens me to think that his eyesight may deteriorate so badly that he may have to undergo major corneal grafting surgery which may not even help him. My greatest fear would be that his condition could ultimately lead to blindness.
Incurable is not what I wanted to hear
I have been told there is no way to prevent Lattice Corneal Dystrophy Type I developing, which is devastating news for Patrick. I was so excited to find out that a charity called Cathedral Eye Research Foundation, founded by Professor Johnny Moore, Ophthalmologist along with Professor Tara Moore, Vision Scientist, University of Ulster have been carrying out pioneering research into the disease and this TBFGI gene mutation which could help save Patrick’s sight.
SUPPORTING THIS RESEARCH
Like any good parent I want to do the best for my children but research costs a lot amount of money and if I could raise anything at all to help the Cathedral Eye Research Foundation undertake this pioneering research it would be a massive achievement. In order to do that I need to find supporters who are happy to donate whatever they can, no matter how small. Please help if you can by donating to Cathedral Eye Research Foundation today. I’d like so much to help Patrick and be so proud to tell him that our story helped to raise money not only for us but also to help other families like us in the future as I fully recognise it may take years for this research to translate into the clinic and be available for my son or I.
Donate by text or online, it will only take 2 minutes of your time.
Thank you
Shauna