An Edinburgh man is running the marathon held in the capital city this month to raise funds for the charity that helped his daughter.
William Oviatt will take part in the Edinburgh marathon on Sunday 26 May to say thank you for all the help and support, Sight Scotland gave his family after their daughter Sofie was diagnosed with retinal dystrophy.
He said: “Discovering that your child has visual impairment is heart-breaking and can cause a whirlwind of emotions, and we are just so thankful we had Sight Scotland there to help and support us.
“On Sunday 26th May, I’ll be running twenty-six miles in the Edinburgh Marathon to raise funds for Sight Scotland and to support children like Sofie who are visually impaired, blind or suffer from sight loss.”
William and his wife Debbi, both from Edinburgh, realised something was seriously wrong with their daughter Sofie’s vision when she was just six months old.
Sofie had a noticeable wobble in her eyes and was struggling to track objects at baby classes.
Several months later she was diagnosed with retinal dystrophy, a group of genetic eye conditions that affect the light-sensitive cells in the retina.
William and Debbi were told it was incredibly rare in children and something she would have for life. They say it was a heart-breaking moment that felt unfair to their daughter who hadn’t even been with them for a whole year, and the news was difficult to take in.
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“For Sofie to be given this life-changing news at such an early age was extremely hard to take. It was such an emotional, confusing time. Sofie was just a typical, happy, baby so it was difficult to comprehend why this was happening to her.
“But after that, we were just left to it, we had been given the information by the doctors but were offered no help with what we should do next. Sofie was just your typical, happy, baby so we couldn’t understand why this was happening to her. So, we reached out to various charities to try and build relationships and get a better understanding of what we were facing and what we could do to help Sofie.
Sight Scotland – formerly known as Royal Blind - has been dedicated to meeting the challenges of visual impairment for over two centuries. William and Debbi said they were huge in helping Sofie, and for helping them understand her condition and how it will impact her future.
William added: “Sight Scotland has been amazing; the charity has a real community and family feel. The emotional support has been just so important, just having someone to talk to, who understands what we are going through, has been invaluable.
"We are in a club that we didn’t want to be in, but we are now so proud to be in it. Whether it is signposting, listening, supporting or the policy group giving us a voice, they are always there to answer our questions and fill in the gaps. There is no way we would feel so strong if it wasn’t for Sight Scotland.”
“This is why I am running to raise money for Sight Scotland, as the support they have given to Sofie, and to Debbi and myself, has been life-changing, and I can’t thank them enough and want to give something back.”
William has raised more than £1500 so far on his Just Giving page, and still has another 26 days to continue raising funds for the charity.
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