The Retinal Childrens Fund

Hello & welcome! I created this Just Giving page to help raise £25,000 to buy a Retcam machine. An incredible piece of technology; a digital imaging system which enables brilliant full colour, highly detailed images to be captured and sent for immediate analysis to a consultant ophthalmologist.

The Retcam has a lots of uses, but primarily would be used to detect and monitor eye disease in premature babies. In particular, Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). This disease occur's in some babies after a premature birth. Inside the babies eyes, the blood vessels of the retina start to grow abnormally. This can be a very fast developing disease and requires very frequent monitoring. It is important to treat ROP at 'just the right moment' for best chances of successful outcomes.

The Retcam provides a fantastic opportunity for more flexible monitoring schedules - the babies can be scanned in situ, in the special care unit by trained staff and the images sent for analysis by the specialist ophthalmologist. This makes finding 'just the right moment' much easier!

ROP is the single leading cause of childhood blindness, but the Retcam can also be used to detect other childhood eye diseases such as cancer. 

Why me, why this amazing charity? ..... Well, a very talented consultant surgeon, Mr Ahmed El-Amir took on the challenge of saving my eyesight! Together, we won! I had Retinopathy of Prematurity as a baby and despite now being over 40 (shhh, thats a secret) this disease continues to challenge and threaten my vision. As far as our eyes are concerned, we are forever 'premature' .... so weighing just 2lb, I decided to arrive 3 months early. All those decades ago, there was no technology like this! In fact it wasn't until adulthood that I even found out I had ROP. Lots of adult challenges started to occur in my retinas which of course were not treated as a baby. My teenagers like to remind me that (in the dark ages) when I was born lasers weren't invented!

Fortunately anyone who knows Mr El-Amir will know he never looses hope; he never gives up and he will always go the extra mile for every one of his patients! 

I'd love to help raise this money so that Mr El-Amir can buy this Retcam for use in the Special Baby Unit at Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospital. He personally founded The Retinal Children’s Fund charity in 2013 whilst treating children at Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospital (Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust) to support eye care for children. The fund is currently aiding efforts to raise £25,000 for Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust in Berkshire.

I'd love to be part of knowing that I can help today's premature babies in our region to get the perfectly timed eye treatment they need. After stabilising this disease, perhaps as adults, these babies may not have to face these adult complications of this childhood disease. That would be wonderful!

Thanks so much for reading! Thanks so much for every donation! Every penny really does help!

Signing off now .... Laura Hall, very grateful patient of Mr Ahmed El-Amir; NHS Consultant Ophthalmic and Vitreo-Retinal Surgeon and Founder and Director of private practice, The Harley Street Eye Clinic.
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If you would like further information on fund-raising efforts for this Retcam machine, please email Rosa Cicero, Practice Manager, at info@harleystreeteye.com

http://harleystreeteye.com/charity
http://harleystreeteye.com/lauras-story/
http://harleystreeteye.com/raffis-story/

** Mr Ahmed El-Amir is also leading the way in treatment for advanced AMD (Age related Macular Degeneration). He was the first in Europe to implant a miniature Centrasight implantable telescope (the size of a pea!). This device can restore some central vision and huge improvement in the quality of life for advanced AMD sufferers! **
http://harleystreeteye.com/treating-age-related-macular-degeneration/#macularscopeplus

Thanks all xx