In the year of the Rio Olympics, Jenna and I thought it was fitting that 6 supremely un-athletic members of our families come together, to “hopefully” triumph over the adversity set by the Olympic Triathlon at Leeds Castle in Kent on Sunday 25th June. The aim of this is to raise money for an institution that has been of huge help to our family over the past 6 months.

In November when our son Finlay was 6 weeks old Jenna and I had the sad news that Finlay had a rare eye condition called Aniridia (literally means “without iris” http://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health-eye-conditions-z-eye-conditions/aniridia), which will leave him partially sighted/blind.

Children with Aniridia typically have some level of vision, for example Finlay can see at 6m what the rest of us can see at 130m. Unfortunately though this can degenerate further during childhood as Aniridia may also develop other eye conditions such as Nystagmus, Glaucoma, Cataracts, Keratopathy to name a few.

Given the rare nature of Aniridia (~1 in 50,000) there are still a number of unanswered questions as to why and how some children with Aniridia develop further eye diseases and others do not and most importantly what can be done to combat this. The world renowned Moorfield Eye Hospital is partaking in a number of research studies, but requires further funding to see these through to fruition.

Unlike most charities, Moorfield are empowering Jenna and I by allowing us to choose exactly which projects the money raised will be utilised in and to speak to the consultants running them (please ask if you would like further information on the projects we are looking to support with your donations).

We feel that with your help we have the opportunity to make a real difference to those children’s lives that face the adversity of partial sight daily. It will be with this in mind that will spur the 6 of us on to triumph over what in comparison is a walk in the park.

All our thanks

Simon and Jenna