Parents Launch Fundraising Appeal For Little Lad Born Without Eyes

One-year-old Elijah suffers from an incredibly rare condition which means that he was born without eyes. Now, his parents are fundraising to try and get enough money to pay for a sensory bedroom.

The condition, Anophthalmia, affects just one in 100,000 babies. Sadly, he will have to go through a series of operations to rebuild his sockets in order to have prosthetic eyes fitted in the future.

The Merseyside-based family set up a GoFundMe campaign which has already raised £4,000 of the £5,500 needed.

Elijah's mother, Zoe Hickson, said: "When Elijah was born he looked like any other baby - small and perfect but after six hours it became clear that something was wrong. He hadn't opened his eyes yet. Doctors came and checked him over and didn't understand why. They got a senior ophthalmologist to come and have a look at Elijah and she told us she thought Elijah had either very small eyes or no eyes but either way he was going to be blind.

"We were referred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital to find out what was wrong with our perfect boy. Elijah was three months old when we got the diagnosis that he has Anophthalmia, which means our boy has no eyes.

"At three months old, Elijah also had open heart surgery to save his life and he has since had an operation on his eye sockets to help his face grow and to make room for prosthetics but he will need more of these painful operations over the next few years to stop his face from collapsing."

They're hoping to raise the money so that Elijah can have his own bedroom. This is because independence will be important for his development as he grows up.

Kelsea Little, spokesperson for GoFundMe.com, said: "A sensory room for Elijah sounds like it would be a wonderful thing for him to have at home. We hope the campaign's goal is reached soon so that the Hickson family can begin to put it together!"

If you want to donate, visit their fundraising page here.

Featured image credit: GoFundMe.com/Elijah's World

Topics: Fundraising, Charity, Baby, Little Lad

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay has been a Senior Journalist for Tyla and LADbible since 2015. She started her career writing obituaries and funeral guides online. Since then, her work has been published in a wide variety of national and local news sites. She is part of the BBC's Generation project and has spoken about young people, politics and mental health on television, radio and online. Contact her - [email protected]

@melramsay_