Last chance to save Katie's sight

Hi, I’m Katie, I’m 13 years old and, unless I have specialist eye surgery immediately, I will spend the rest of my life completely blind.

I was born with a detached retina in my left eye, which means that I’ve always been blind on that side and wear a plastic shell painted to look like a real eye. Until recently, I have always had some sight in my right eye, but I suffer from glaucoma, which is a condition that causes vision impairment and, if untreated, complete blindness.

For most of my life, mum and dad had been able to control the pressure with eye drops and laser treatment, but last year the eye drops and laser treatment stopped working. The only option was for me to have surgery to expand the drainage channels in my eye, which took place in October. As far as the glaucoma was concerned, the operation was a success but there was so much trauma to the eye that blood clots formed right in front of my iris, totally blocking my vision. Sadly, the blood has not dispersed and I have now been without any sight since October half term 2022.

A few days before Christmas, we learned that I also have tears in my retina, which, unless operated upon, will lead to complete retinal detachment meaning I will be blind in both eyes for the rest of my life. To prevent this, I need more surgery to remove the gel at the back of my eye. This procedure is called a vitrectomy and is very complex in children like me, particularly as I have an extremely cloudy cornea that makes it difficult for doctors to see the back of my eye.

The Solution

Because of these complications, I need an endoscopic vitrectomy and, as there are only three doctors in the UK who can perform this type of surgery on children, you can imagine how long the NHS waiting lists are! All the children waiting have a critical need, just like me, so mum and dad have no choice but to pay for it to be done privately at Great Ormond Street Hospital as soon as a bed becomes available; the longer I wait for the operation, the greater the chance will be of my retina detaching. I have a number of other medical conditions that make this operation even more difficult so GOSH is the best place for me to be with its High Dependency Unit in case anything goes wrong.

My Future

The last nine weeks have been filled with darkness instead of the light and joy that I look forward to so much at Christmas. There was none of the arts and crafts, baking and dancing that I love and I couldn’t make Christmas cards for my friends and family like I usually do. I helped mum and dad decorate the tree but Christmas just wasn’t the same this year.

Without this surgery, I won’t see Christmas ever again. I will have to learn to navigate the world without sight and my life will be changed forever. However, my doctor is optimistic that the operation will allow me to see at least as well as I could before my eyesight deteriorated last year. In 2021, I had a cataract removed and for almost a year, I had the best eyesight I’d ever had and could even see some things close up without wearing glasses!

I have had many operations in my life so far, not just for my eyes, and I’ve always battled through them and bounced back quickly. This one is the biggest and most vital one yet.

Please help my mum and dad cover the cost of this life-changing operation and give me back my sight.

£15,000 will pay for the cost of the surgery, the initial consultation with the retina specialist, the orthoptist, the ultrasound scans and the private prescriptions.

The operation £13,600.

Consultation with a private orthoptist £110

Initial consultation with the retinal doctor £350

Prescription for preservative free eye drops £54

Ultrasound scan - likely to be between £180-£300.