Sight for Saoirse

Saoirse was diagnosed with bilateral optic nerve hypoplasia when she was four and half years old and told there was no cure for her condition and nothing they could do to improve her sight.

A person with ONH has optic nerves which are small and poorly developed. Instead of having over 1 million connections (nerve fiber) for each eye to the brain, people with ONH have far fewer connections. Saoirse has no useful vision on her left eye and visual acuity in her right eye 30%.

Most children with ONH have unusual eye movements (Nystagmus) which Saoirse also has. The eyes may move around with no real pattern or purpose. This occurs because the eyes are not able to focus well enough to hold still and is often seen with children that have poor vision

In our search for more information on Saoirse’s condition we discovered a medical facility in China called Beike that specialises in stem cell research that works with the optic nerve. The stem cell treatment will help to enlarge the nerve giving her a better quality of sight.

Many procedures for Saoirse’s condition have already taken place in China and all have been successful to varying degrees. The doctors in China believe the more stem cell injections Saoirse has the better chance for improvement.

Saoirse is now 13 years old and attending presentation school in Tuam. Saoirse uses visual aids and now has a laptop as she needs to have her work in 24 font. Saoirse is receiving resource support. Saoirse is hoping to travel to Qingdao hospital in China June of this year. The procedure is going to cost in the region of €50,000 and a committee has been formed to raise funds towards this cost.

Fundraising is now finished and we would like to

thank everyone who supported Saoirse.