Films share personal impact of sight loss and the possibility of breakthroughs

More than one in five people will experience serious sight loss in their lifetimes - yet only one percent of public grant funding is invested in eye research.

Fight for Sight has launched four films to help raise awareness of the impact of sight loss and the possibility of eye research to make a difference. 

The films share the personal stories of people with sight loss, and three researchers who are on the cusp of breakthroughs with their research.

Through the films we hope to demonstrate that we are so close to breakthroughs that can transform lives. The only barrier is the lack of funding to make it happen.

We are so close to life changing breakthroughs. 

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Meet Jackson...

Jackson is just one of over 25,000 children in the UK affected by blindness or sight loss.

At just two and a half months old, Jackson was diagnosed with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), resulting in the loss of his central vision. For Jackson, it has always been this way. But Fight for Sight funded research at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology has already led to breakthroughs that, with more funding, could help him see so much more of the world.

 Meet Jonathan...

As a retired fighter jet pilot, Jonathan had relied on his perfect vision throughout his career. But sight loss can affect anyone. After an unexpected diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness, Jonathan found the threat of a loss of independence understandably alarming. But Fight for Sight funded research at the University of Birmingham is delivering a new treatment and helping him fight back.

Meet Joe...

An avid sports fan, Joe was just ten years old when he was diagnosed with choroideremia, a condition caused by a faulty gene that leads to blindness. As his eyesight deteriorated, sight loss had hit him hard. He had to drop his sports and by the time he was 16 he had mentally given up. Until now, there had been no hope of a transformative treatment.

But Joe found Fight for Sight and was accepted onto an pioneering gene therapy trial that has helped restore some of his sight. Pioneering research has changed his life.

 Meet Dr Ebenezer...

Dr Neil Ebenezer is Director of Research and Innovation at Fight for Sight and has been exploring research into keratoconus, a condition that affects the cornea. Over time, keratoconus can make the cornea thinner and more cone-shaped – often causing considerable pain up to 1 in 500 people affected in the UK. But funding from Fight for Sight has helped pioneer a new treatment to create a “scaffold” and stop the progression in some patients.