‘Fight For Sight’ …… Willow, my 21 month old daughter has just begun her fight. In solidarity with her struggle I will fight in the Ultra White Collar Boxing event to raise awareness and money for a fantastic charity.

Willow was diagnosed with a Congenital Cataract earlier this year. Cataracts in a child? I had never even heard of this a few months ago. You always associated cataracts with older people. It is in fact a very rare condition in children, but around 2 in 10,000 babies are diagnosed with Congenital Cataracts which can cause permanent visual impairment if not diagnosed and treated quickly.

Willow is now under a paediatric ophthalmologist and will undergo surgery at the end of May at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge to remove her lens and have an artificial lens replacement. Willow currently has little or maybe no vision at all out of her left eye but we are hopeful and believe the cataract wasn’t significant at birth so her eye may have had time to develop in the first 3 critical months of life. Hopefully, that combined with intense treatment in the form of patching her good eye for 6 hours a day up until she is about 7 years old she has the potential to see well in the future.

Willow has a tough journey ahead of her. The biggest challenge to begin with is going to be wearing an eye patch over her good eye to try and encourage her weaker eye to develop. This potentially making her feel blind. Then there is the recovery from surgery, constant eye drops for weeks, trips back and forth to Cambridge, getting her used to wearing glasses, none of it is going to be easy for her or for us. Willow will for the rest of her life have to have regular appointments to check the pressure in her eyes. She will forever be at risk of developing glaucoma in her left eye. With so many uncertainties I do know one thing for sure, my daughter is built of strength and courage and she will absolutely get through this with me by her side every step of the way.

I am fighting for you Willow.

One in five people will have a serious sight condition in their lifetime. Sight loss doesn’t discriminate based on age, gender, or background - it can affect anyone. Sight is so precious, something that money cannot buy. Your donations will help fund research to create a world everyone can see. Please support Willow and others with their ‘Fight for Sight’.