When our daughter Sophia was only four months old, we noticed that her eyeballs were moving around almost all the time. The doctors and specialists sent us for an MRI of the brain.

The day of the MRI at the hospital would change our lives forever, as they found large, inoperabletumors around her optic nerve. It was so hard to know exactly how much vision she had, and the only thing we could do was start chemotherapy immediately. She went through two years of chemotherapy protocols, and unfortunately the tumor started to grow again. I prayed hard that some of Sophia’s functional vision could be saved.

I remember that they helped her to learn how to walk, climb the stairs, and even how to talk. Not only did they provide us an incredible amount of support for her vision, but they also gave us moral support and encouragement in our most inconsolable moments.

Today, Sophia takes longer than other kids to most anything. When her friends arrive at the schoolyard in the morning, they run around while Sophia struggles to keep up or just stays alone. Due to her limited vision, her experience of life is less than her peers, and several times I’ve even heard other children tell her “you dont know anything.”

Sophia will soon turn eight, but I still cant let her move far from me when were out. She doesn’t see the cars coming close, and she can easily get lost, especially in the winter when there’s a lot of snow. Many times, her friends see her in the street or at the park and they call her name, but Sophia cant recognize them, which makes me and her so sad.

Unfortunately, Sophia lost her vision completely in one eye, and the other one only has very limited vision. I’m so happy that she receives support from her amazing team at the MAB-Mackay they are truly angels on earth.

Sophia has a dream of one day seeing well. I always reassure her that even if she cant, she has many tools and incredible support to help her do all the things that she wants.

Thank you for helping to make this possible.

Samaneh,
Sophia’s proud and grateful mom