Source: Thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
A HEARTBROKEN great-gran says she would do anything to see her family again after losing her sight overnight.
Fit and healthy Dorothy Leach, 75, woke up one morning in February unable to see.
She had been struck down by a terrible condition which has now left her blind.
The mum-of-four who is grandmother to seven and great-grandmother to Olly and Chris, said: “I was on holiday in King’s Lynn and was out shopping as normal.
“Then I went to bed at night and got up in the morning and just couldn’t see anything. It had gone completely.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it would just be temporary but then I went to hospital and they kept me in for about a week. I haven’t been able to see a thing ever since.
“I would just love to be able to see my great-grandchildren grow up. I got to see little Olly before my sight went but my other great-grandchild Chris was born two weeks after so I have never been able to see him. It is heartbreaking to think I might never see them.”
Dorothy who lives in Springfield, Hardwicke, with her husband Percival, has giant cell arteritis, an inflammatory disease of blood vessels.
Blurred
The inflammation can affect blood supply to the eye which can result in blurred vision or sudden blindness, as in Dorothy’s case.
Doctors have said there is nothing they can do for the much-loved great-gran, but she hasn’t given up hope.
She said: “I am just left trying to get out of what I call my black hole. Before I was very active I used to do everything, the painting, the cooking, cleaning and the gardening and now I can’t do anything. I can’t even go around the house by myself because I bump into things.
“I know there is no guarantee that stem cell treatment will work but I am willing to try anything.”
After researching Dorothy’s condition her family are hopeful pioneering stem cell treatment in China would be able to restore her sight, but they need to raise £16,000 for it.
Dorothy’s daughter Vicky said: “We want to send her to China to get stem cell treatment.
“I have researched it a lot and I think it could really make a difference.
“They have been doing it since 2005 and they are leading the way in that type of treatment. We just want to do anything to get mum the help she needs.”
The family is doing a number of sponsored events including a golf tournament, sponsored run and they are also getting a donation from Moreton C Cullimore (Gravels) Ltd.
■ For more information about Dorothy’s condition or to donate to her campaign visit http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jg.va.birt/