Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Chances are, if you've made it here you know why I'm doing this. Just in case you don't, let me fill in the blanks.

My younger sisters, Amy and Jessie, are losing their central vision. Not out of carelessness, but because of a genetic disease. Stargardt disease is a form of juvenile macular degeneration. The macula is the bit at the back of your eye that makes it possible to focus on objects in your central vision. The cells that make up the macula, photoreceptor cells, are dying in A&J's eyes. As they die off, their central vision will blur and then vanish, as the brain no longer receives enough information to make even it's best guess at what's ahead. 

This process is inevitable - currently there is no cure for this kind of macular degeneration. It could take years, months, or just weeks for them to reach a level of sight loss that would be considered legally blind.

Research is still ongoing, and perhaps in a few generations time no family will face a life changing diagnosis like this. But until then, there support is there for those that are living with sight loss, not least thanks to Moorfield Eye Charity. 

To quote their JustGiving page:

"[Moorfield Eye Charity] raise funds to enable Moorfields Eye Hospital to continue to provide the highest quality care for our patients and their families and to help ensure it remains a world-class centre of excellence for research and education."

I find this really hard to talk about seriously - you might have spotted my less-than-subtle sight puns. Perhaps it's because it's not my eyes that are losing focus. It's always been our family way to make light of our hardships and joke about what's getting us down. But honestly, my sisters won't get to see all the good days that they deserve to see, let alone all the bad days that'll be in the way, and that just breaks my heart. Please, donate whatever you can to this amazing cause. I really do hope that one day we can look back on sight loss as a problem of the past.

About JustGiving

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.