We, as a family would like to fundraise for Sightsavers in loving memory of Mariyah Jasrai. Mariyah was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, an extremely aggressive form of cancer at the age of 7 and a half and engaged in a battle with it up until the age of 16, where she endured a plethora of treatments including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery in both conventional and experimental variations. She was subjected to an overwhelming bombardment of hardship, pain and suffering throughout her years but despite that she continued to plough on with her strong character, will and determination. 

The tumour originated in her femur and then continued to grow and metastasise around her body but she continued to fight it at every step of its progression. She endured inhumane amounts of pain, sickness and suffering caused by combination of the disease and the side effects of the rudimentary treatments that exist today. These did not phase her up until December 2016 when she was experiencing severe headaches and blurry vision and we were told that the cancer had metastasised into her brain which is extremely rare for her form and that it was applying pressure to her eyes, thus distorting her vision. She underwent radiotherapy which was unsuccessful and we were not able to contain the tumour within her. It continued to colonise her brain and eventually it grew on her optic nerves and she effectively lost her vision. 

Mariyah had endured every side effect and possible manifestation of pain but it did not defeat her, however when she lost her eyesight, she was absolutely distraught. Her character had changed, her will wasted away and she began to lose herself and eventually so would we. For Mariyah, her vision was her connection to the outside world, even when she was cornered by the unstoppable forces of nature within her, it allowed her to see the comforting smile of her parents faces or even the photos that would evoke her favourite memories that would provide her with the hope and thus determination to fight; however when this connection was severed she was defeated as she entered the dark abyss of the end of her life. 

Sadly, she lost her battle on the 19th of April 2017. However, before she had passed she had heard about Sighsavers and their pledge to treat blind children and restore their vision by removing their cataracts. When she heard that it would only cost £4 per eye, she immediately wanted to contribute to restore the vision of as many children as she could as she was enraged that it could be done so easily. Even though she knew that her vision could not be restored, she wanted to impact the lives of those that could be treated as she had endured their pain. She wanted to add this extremely personal pledge to her portfolio of charitable work but unfortunately she was not able to do so. Therefore, we would like to carry out Mariyah's wish to pledge and continue her profound impact on this planet by giving the gift of sight.