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IRISH actress Victoria Smurfit has told how finding out that her daughter will eventually go blind was like a wrecking ball out of the sky.

The former Ballykissangel stars 14-year-old daughter, Evie, suffers from Stargardts Macular Dystrophy, an eye condition which leads to blindness.

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The teen was diagnosed when she was just 12-years-old and her condition is deteriorating as she gets older.

Mum-of-three Victoria, 45, says her whole world came crashing down around her when they found out Evie would eventually lose her sight completely.

She said: Its a bit wrecking ball out of the sky you didnt see coming.

"As a parent, if there is a problem with your kid, you find a solution, end of story. Its just what you do.

But to be in a position where thats a much harder thing to find, because it hasnt been created yet, its astonishing.

Evie says she was first confronted with the harrowing realisation that she was losing her sight when she tried to find a book that she needed for school.

She said: I remember one time in a book shop, I was crying because I was supposed to get a book for school but I couldnt read it.

"That was one of those moments, where it hit me, Im going blind.

Now, my eyesight is very clouded all the time, colour is blended in together and so everything is kind of a smooth surface from a afar.

"I have lights in my vision, like fairy lights, like fireworks exploding everywhere.

There are good days and bad days, some days are worse than others because it only hits you, that Im going to go blind but Im also helping people by talking about it.

The pair opened up about Evies condition as leading eye experts descended on Dublin for the Fighting Blindness Retina 2019 conference, which started today and continues tomorrow.

The conference brings together scientists and experts from all over the world to share knowledge on research efforts to find a cure for sight loss.

And Victoria and Evie are determined to do as much as possible to help raise awareness for the genetic condition, and raise money to go towards research.

Tomorrow night, the pair will appear at the Vision Ball in the K Club where Evie will deliver a keynote speech on her experience with sight loss.

As well as her advocacy work for Stargardts, Evie revealed shed love to follow in her famous mums footsteps by pursuing a career in acting.

As her mum stood by, shaking her head in disapproval, Evie said: If I had the opportunity to act in something then I would. I love acting. I have since I was a kid. I was in The Clinic when I was about three.

"Ive done a lot of school plays and things but I would love to do more.

Its back to work on set for Victoria on Monday, who begins shooting a new movie, Hair Raisers, starring The Commitments actress, Angeline Ball.

The Once Upon A Time actress recently moved her entire family from their home in Santa Monica over to Surrey in the UK to be closer to family, friends and world-class medical services.

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We revealed earlier this year that the family also choose to leave after a gunman turned up at her daughter school.

And she says its the best decision shes ever made to move closer to home.

She said: Its brilliant being back. The problem in the US is that there is nowhere has not been touched by gun violence, malls, churches, schools, cinemas, you name it, theres been an incident. You should have to have a low grade fear to walk out your door."

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Victoria Smurfit says finding out daughter will eventually go blind was like wrecking ball out of the s - The Irish Sun

This entry was posted on November 19, 2019 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |