Campaign by Story
The Salisbury family are taking on 20 challenges for Fight for Sight, to celebrate its 20th anniversary and to raise a whopping £165,000 for sight saving research, bringing their total funds raised to £1million! This page will keep up with their progress. Can you take on a challenge and help them, if so please get in touch?
Tommy was diagnosed with Choroideremia in 2005 when he was 4, his mum Emma set up the Tommy Salisbury Fund with Fight for Sight and since then family, friends and so many other people have worked tirelessly to raise money for medical research into finding a treatment.
Over £835,000 has already been raised to date, which has funded many studies that have already led to three clinical trials. Tommy was part of the phase II clinical trial and so far has had no deterioration in the treated eye. Choroideremia is a rare genetic eye condition, that causes progressive loss of vision that affects males. The first symptom of this condition is usually an impairment of night vision, which can occur in early childhood. The vision in Choroideremia worsens over time, all individuals with this condition will develop blindness, most commonly in adulthood.
Emma Salisbury, founder of the Tommy Salisbury Fund says
I am truly amazed and proud of every person or company who has contributed to Tommy’s Fund since 2005, helping us with our journey to find a treatment for Choroideremia.
As parents Paul and I were devastated when we got the news from Moorfields that Tommy had got a positive diagnosis for Choroideremia, a day neither of us will ever forget. After a few months of feeling so much grief for his future, we decided that we should fundraise and give the money to medical research to find a treatment. So the best partnership happened with us and Fight for Sight. Six ladies, including my mum and I took on the Women’s 5k Challenge in Hyde Park in 2005, and raised a huge amount of money, which gave us the determination to carry on. Now 20 years later, a whopping £835,000 has been given to research via Tommy’s Fund.
It brings tears to my eyes when I think of the number of people who have been behind us in achieving this, the things we have done, the challenges undertaken, the other families we have met also affected by Choroideremia, have become dear friends and just the support and generosity is truly amazing.
We now have a big challenge ahead, raising £165,000 in 15 months, but if anyone can do this Team Tommy can. If you have something on your bucket list or a challenge that you have always wanted to do then get in touch and I can help you cross this off your list.
Thank you just does not seem enough but hopefully one day you can all say, I helped the Salisbury’s and now people with Choroideremia will not go blind.
Thank you to everyone being part of our £165,000 challenge.