The Dowler family- walked My Eye to Eye 2021
Giving back after receiving treatment for Stargardt’s
1 March 2021

Nina Dowler, her husband and four daughters took part in My Eye to Eye- in three different locations across the UK!
Three of Nina’s daughters have Stargardt’s and have been treated at Moorfields Eye Hospital over the last four years. Due to the ongoing government guidelines around Covid-19, even though they couldn’t be in one place together, the Dowler family walked at the same time from their own doorsteps.
What is Stargardt disease?
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Stargardt disease is sometimes called a juvenile macular dystrophy as it can first appear in childhood. However Startgardt disease can also begin later in adulthood.
At first Stargardt disease will make your vision unclear or blurry. Things may sometimes appear distorted or wavy. You can have problems with your central, detailed vision which can make activities such as reading and recognising faces difficult.
Your colour perception may also be affected. If you’ve had Stargardt disease for a number of years then you may have a blank patch in the centre of your vision. This blank patch will not move and will always be in the very centre of your field of vision.
Stargardt disease doesn’t usually affect other parts of your retina so your peripheral or side vision is not normally affected. Since you use your peripheral vision when you’re moving around, most people with Stargardt disease can manage to continue getting out and about on their own.
Stargardt disease can also cause problems with light, such as glare and difficulties adapting to changing light conditions.

Taking on Eye to Eye in 2018
We took part in Eye to Eye in 2018 as a family - Ian, myself and our four daughters. We travelled from around the country and enjoyed spending the day together walking the 14 miles. We had a great sense of achievement when we got to the end and because we had raised money for the charity.
This time we thought it would be good to take part again and know that although we are in three different locations we are doing something together which is raising money to try to help other children and adults with eye conditions. By supporting the charity and taking part we are hoping to give a purpose to our daily exercise.
Nina Dowler
Thank you so much to the Dowler family for continuing your fundraising despite the challenges created by Covid-19 restrictions.