Help Aliyah Save Her Sight and Keep Her Broadway Dreams Alive

Meet Aliyah Mae, a bright, funny, and determined 13-year-old who lights up every room she walks into. She has a heart of gold, a love for theatre that’s bigger than life, and a dream of one day performing on Broadway. When she’s not singing her heart out, she’s probably snacking on her favorite — Takis — and making everyone around her laugh.

But behind her contagious smile, Aliyah is fighting something most of us take for granted — her vision.

Aliyah has been diagnosed with Keratoconus, a progressive eye disease where the clear front part of the eye (the cornea) becomes thinner and begins to bulge into a cone shape. This causes blurry vision, light sensitivity, and distortion — and it only gets worse over time. Sadly, there’s no cure.

Both of Aliyah’s eyes are affected, but her left eye has already lost most of its vision. Her doctors say she urgently needs a corneal cross-linking procedure on both eyes within the next 8 weeks to stop the disease from progressing. This treatment won’t reverse the damage already done, but it can slow or stop further vision loss, giving her the best chance to avoid a cornea transplant in the future.

Aliyah’s family is doing everything they can to make sure she gets the care she needs, but the cost of these specialized procedures, travel, and follow-up care is more than they can manage alone. That’s why we’re asking for help from friends, family, and kind strangers who believe in helping a young girl keep sight of her dreams — literally.

Every donation, big or small, will go directly toward Aliyah’s medical expenses and help her continue to see the world she’s working so hard to shine in.

Aliyah dreams of seeing the lights of New York City — and one day, the spotlight on Broadway — with her own eyes. Let’s help her keep that dream in focus.

Thank you for your love, generosity, and prayers.