On the 25th May 2023, Finlay Macleod passed away. He was 20 years old. Finlay was my oldest friend. I met him at nursery and we spent much of our childhood growing up going on holiday and sharing experiences with each other, from Rugby at Rosslyn Park to Music Festivals.

He was intelligent, kind and determined, a beautiful person who is sorely missed by all those who knew him and will continued to be loved forever.

At some point in every young retinitis pigmentosa (RP) sufferer's life the nature of their condition weighs very heavily on them and how they believe it will significantly impact every aspect of their future. 

We believe this is what happened to Finlay last year: as he looked forward in his life, all he could see was the negative impact of his condition. He just ran out of hope for what his future with RP could be and this is why, we believe, Finlay took his own life.

Although sight loss would have had a profound impact on Finlay, he would have been able to achieve so much in his life and he would have been a wonderful person to have around. We only wish we could tell him that now.

Fiona, Imi and I never want another young sufferer of RP to ever feel like Finlay did; to lose all hope and to feel that taking their own life is the only solution.

There is a huge volume of negativity around sight loss in our sighted world. We are fundraising specifically to improve the support available to young RP sufferers, to help them grow up to be more optimistic about the impact of their condition and above all, to maintain hope for their future.  

If only this had been available, who knows, maybe Finlay would be running the Bristol Half Marathon with Imi as they had planned.

Please help us raise as much money as possible, to help make a difference, to help ensure that no young RP sufferer ever takes their own life again.