A MUM has been left fearing she will lose her vision after a rapid deterioration in her eyesight led to the diagnosis of a rare condition.

Edie Turner-Barling, 27, has been told she suffers with keratoconus, a disease which thins her cornea and is causing a rapid decline in her vision.

While incurable, there is still hope she can take steps to prevent her eyesight from failing through specialist treatment.

But time is of the essence.

She had long known something wasn’t right with her eyesight as she had to get a new prescription for her glasses every six months.

“There was a really dramatic shift in a very short space of time,” she said.

“When I was driving at night there was a lot of glare from the lights and I started to realise there was something more sinister going on.”

Eyelash technician Edie, from Colchester, has been left out of work since the country was plunged into a nationwide lockdown late last year.

Appointments she had scheduled on the NHS last year were put off, and Edie decided to visit a laser eye surgeon for a free referral to see if they could tell her what the problem was.

She was told she has keratoconus, which causes the the cornea, the front part of an eye, to weaken over time, causing it to bulge into a cone shape.

If the symptoms get severe, patients may need a corneal transplant.

Edie has been referred to an optometrist, but with time critical, she fears a month-long wait for an appointment could cause her sight to diminish even further, leaving her unable to drive or carry out the job she loves.

Gazette: Struggle - Edie with her son MaisonStruggle - Edie with her son Maison

She is hoping specialist cross-linking treatment will keep a total loss of her sight at bay.

“The treatment needed is to try and avoid the cornea from breaking down,” she said.

Corneal cross-linking uses eye drop medication and ultraviolet light to make the tissues in the cornea stronger, keeping it from bulging further.

It is the only treatment which can stop progressive keratoconus from worsening.

“I don’t consider myself to be a selfish person and I know everybody is in the same boat with money at the moment,” said Edie.

“We are all fighting our own battles.

“I would hate to ask for help from pots that are already empty.

“But I can’t imagine life without my vision and it’s scary.

“It scares me to think that in six months I may be told I can’t drive or that I can’t do my job.

“My job is so rewarding in that I get to meet and make friends with so many new people.

“Yesterday I cried about a year’s worth of tears.

“I would never have asked for help personally, but I have the nicest friend you could ever hope for and she asked if we could try.”

Close friend Amy Ball is hoping to stump up the necessary £5,000 for private medical treatments so Edie can get the help she needs quickly.

She said: “Edie has a little boy, Maison, who is only three-years-old, and as any mother at the age of just 27 being told this awful news, she is scared senseless right now.

“Any donation would help tremendously to lift the worry, stress, anxiety off Edie’s shoulders.”

Amy added: “During such crucial times like this pandemic, Edie is forced to stop working.

“She is scared stiff at the mountain she has to climb.

“The NHS waiting list is far too long and because of the coronavirus, the appointments she was scheduled for last year were put off until now.

“At the recent appointment she discovered her vision is at stake.

“The treatment will not improve her vision, but it will keep her losing her sight completely at bay. It is a matter of time to get the treatment done to save what sight she has.”

To support Edie, visit gofundme.com/f/help-a-mothers-vision.

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