Hello, my name is Amelia and l am 19 years old.

I am currently fund raising to help me pay for private strabismus eye surgery. I have always struggled with double vision, however my eyesight has deteriorated over the last year. I have been living with constant double vision due to binocular diplopia and an overall diagnosis of esotropia. It was partly managed over the past year by having a very strong prism fitted into my prescription glasses, but over the last few months the double vision has gotten worse. My optician tried fitting new glasses with the strongest prism they could fit but unfortunately it didn't help. I had an appointment in the Mater hospital with my eye consultant Jane Hanley a few weeks ago, and she referred me to ocular motility who deals with treatment and surgery. It is an urgent referral but, after talking to the waiting list office, it turns out they’re only now seeing people from 2022. That’s four years. I cannot wait that long. I am currently wearing a fresnel stuck over non prism glasses which do help give me some relief from the double vision but it's taken away my depth perception and makes me very disoriented. It's like looking through thick blurry glass, making everything look distorted. I don't feel confident enough to go outside anymore unless I have someone with me to hold on to. My life has been on hold and I can’t do all the things I used to be able to like reading and art. I am autistic and find doing art and making things helps me regulate, and since I can't regulate properly my anxiety has been horrible. To put it in the simplest way possible, I'm not living. I don't see a point in getting up in the morning.

I had an appointment in the Ulster Independent Clinic this week with Jonathan Bonnar. I found out that they don’t even do private surgery in the north of Ireland. They do the surgery in the NHS however, they are only able to do one or two a week according to Dr Bonnar. The closest place I can go to is Dublin. So the money I raise will hopefully help with the travel, accommodation and surgery.

If I raise enough I will be able to start the process to getting surgery, and hopefully regain some sort of normality. I was reluctant to do a go fund me so it’s more of a last resort type situation. I know how hard it is in the world we live in, so don't worry if you are unable to donate. I completely understand.

Thank you for reading.