A little girl has been raising awareness of her eye condition.

Five-year-old Abigail organised a ‘Princess and Pirate Patch’ walk around her village on Valentine’s Day, with friends and family joining in virtually due to the current restrictions.

Although Abigail and her mum set out to raise £500, they have already exceeded that target. So far they’ve raised a whopping £954 for RSBC, with money still coming in!

A rare eye condition

Abigail was born with a rare condition in her right eye – it’s hypoplastic and her optic nerve is damaged, meaning it has no vision at all. Her compensating left eye also has poor vision and sadly it’s worsening – she has to have regular check-ups.

Abigail and her family are supported by RSBC’s Families First programme.

Before the pandemic, she attended sensory sessions with the charity but due to the current restrictions, those in-person sessions have been transitioned to regular sessions over zoom.

Since working with RSBC, Abigail’s awareness, resilience and confidence have grown, and she now talks more about her vision impairment and will ask when she needs help.

“We’ve been very grateful for the support we receive from RSBC,” says mum, Deborah. “Abigail can’t wait to resume her sessions in person when it’s safe to do so!”

Taking marathon inspiration

“Abigail got the challenge idea after a friend of the family did the Virtual London Marathon for RSBC in September 2020. Abigail ran round in the village to support her!” says Deborah.

“After this, she wanted to do her own fundraising for RSBC because she loves the charity and you’ve always been there for our family, even in these difficult circumstances.”

“Through this, she also wanted to help people to understand what it’s like living with her sight condition. This is where the idea of wearing eye patches came from – as a way for friends and family to show their support for Abigail.”

Friends and family in support

Abigail and her best friend Alys had planned to walk together but, due to the restrictions currently in place, the friends had to complete the walk separately. Both girls set off at 11 am in their princess dresses and they even facetimed each other on the walk!

There was plenty of support elsewhere too, as Abigail’s Grandparents walked around their village wearing eyepatches!

Go Abigail

“One of Abigail’s favourite parts of the walk was as we came down her friend’s street, her friend had a banner up outside the house saying, ‘Go Abigail!’ with the RSBC logo and a picture of her on it,” says Deborah.

“Despite the cold and windy weather, Abigail was a little trooper. She spent the whole time smiling and waving her RSBC flags and had a well-deserved hot chocolate after!”

From everyone at RSBC, great job Abigail!