I was born with a genetic condition called Stickler Syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder that affects my hearing, joints with early onset arthritis caused by hyper nobility, digestive issues and also, and more severely, my sight. I have always been visually impaired and at 22 years old I had to have cataracts removed from both eyes. This condition also affects members of my family such as my mum, 4 of my siblings and my 2 children, William who is 15 and Jack who is 12 both of whom have very poor vision.

In 2016 I went to work like normal. I had no stress, no bump to the head or anything else yet suddenly, whilst sat drinking a cup of tea, my retina in my strongest eye detached. I underwent emergency surgery to attempt to reattach the retina but unfortunately, within 2 weeks, it had come off again. This went on for months and months and after several surgeries and a massive heamhorrage in the eye I was told we were fighting a losing battle and there was nothing else to be done. My sight In my good eye was gone. To make matters worse, during all this I had to leave a job I loved as I could no longer do this with my remaining limited vision. My confidence was gone, my independence was non existent and I felt I was no longer any use to my family and my 2 beautiful boys. 

I was put in touch with the RNIB by my local low vision contact Russell who works for Specsavers. The RNIB arranged for one of their superstars to visit me. I was given help and training in how to make the most of the technology around me to assist in my day to day life. It was through this support that my confidence grew enough to help me get back into the workplace and I have been fortunate to find a home within the Civil Sevice who have also helped massively. 

Unfortunately, I have since had to have my eye removed as the trauma of so many emergency surgeries caused my eye to die. Health wise I am now almost back to how I was before this and I am due to have my permanent prosthetic eye fitted in 4 weeks. I still have a few dark days and I still don't feel confident to go anywhere on my own but knowing that the RNIB are always there on the other end of the phone is a massive help. I really can't thank them enough and I hope that running the London Marathon in 2019 to raise money for them will show them how much I appreciate everything they do for people who are dealing with sight loss. 

Everyone will know someone that experiences some type of sight loss and unfortunately the number of those affected is rising. Every penny donated goes a long say in helping these people. 

I will also be running the marathon with my best friend and the most amazing hubby a girl could ask for Gary who will be acting as my guide runner. Gary ran the 2018 London Marathon for the RNIB and I am so proud to have him by my side trough this epic journey.

Thanks so much for reading my story. Feel free to message me if you want to know more. I will also be updating my page to let you all know how my training is going ready for the big day in 2019. 😁

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