My darling mum suffered from age-related macular degeneration (as did her mother and sister), which meant that from the age of 75 she was registered disabled and by the time she was in her mid 80s she had less than 10% vision. She was a stoic and never complained other than at the sadness of not being able to fully enjoy her grandchildren. AMD is the most common form of sight loss in the elderly but as yet there is no cure. It tends to be more prevalent in females, so my sister and have regular checks for early onset. I fully expect to be a sufferer though I hope in 10-15 years time, if not sooner, there will be treatments to slow the deterioration, if not halt the disease in its tracks.

This is why I’m on the board of Fight for Sight - to help drive research into sight loss and sight prevention,  not only for AMD but for the myriad of eye diseases that affect babies, young adults and the elderly indiscriminately. 

Never one to shy away from a challenge or two, jumping out of a plane at 10,000 ft is undoubtedly the craziest one so far, but also probably the only one that doesn’t involve months of training!  Of course I’ll have a highly trained buddy holding me tight and pulling the parachute cord....and apparently the back-up chute NEVER fails.....but let’s not go there!

I would really, really appreciate your financial support to spur me on. During the jump I’ve been told I must keep my eyes open . I definitely will and whilst enjoying the stunning views I’ll think of my dear, brave mum and also the millions of people who cannot see the world around them. 

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