Ezra- running a marathon in May for Moorfields
6 May 2021
Four year old Ezra was born with congenital glaucoma. After several referrals to different hospitals, he was finally sent to Moorfields which is quite the distance from their home in rural County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, his condition was spotted early on and treatment swiftly began.
Ezra’s first surgery was at just over three months old which was incredibly difficult for his parents, Sharon and Kyle. Sadly, this treatment was unsuccessful and the family had to travel to London.
Our first visit to the Richard Desmond Children’s Eye hospital at Moorfields was when Ezra was just four months old. Unfortunately, the surgery at The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast had been unsuccessful so we had to travel to London for more specialist surgery.
Our experience in Moorfields was brilliant. Everyone we met in the hospital was so helpful, friendly and positive. We didn’t even have to leave the building and were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House which was based within the hospital building.
Sharon, Ezra’s mum
Another part of Ezra’s treatment over the years has been patching. Since the age of seven months, on and off, he has needed to cover his right eye for up to four hours every day to help strengthen his left eye- the eye that developed slight scarring from the pressure build up. The patching along with glasses have really helped to strengthen Ezra’s vision.
He also has to have daily eye drops.
One drop in the morning and two at night in his right eye only. He’s so used to them by now he could nearly do them himself and he knows them by name. I hope some day we won’t ever need drops again. With research and time we hope this will happen. Your donations make all the difference
His family have been active fundraisers over the years from walking our annual event, Eye to Eye, to knitting bears to sell and raise funds to give back to Moorfields. Now Ezra is joining in and ran a marathon over May!
He had lots of help from family and friends- on some days, he was joined by his classmates and his cousins on his run. Ezra’s fundraising will help support research, staff and patients just like him at Moorfields- he raised an incredible £3,500.
Ezra continues to receive regular check ups at The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast- their children’s eye unit opened just a few weeks before he was born and have been a wonderful support to Ezra and his family.
Thank you Ezra, we think you are a superstar!
