Stevenage family raises thousands for Fight for Sight

Media Contact: Lizzie Webster
Telephone: 0207 264 3904
Email address: lizzie@fightforsight.org.uk

 Stevenage family raises thousands for Fight for Sight

Alicia and Kevin Coghlan, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, have raised over £15,000 for Fight for Sight, the leading UK charity dedicated to funding pioneering research to prevent sight loss and treat eye disease, to help fund research into a condition that will cause the loss of their four-year-old son Jackson’s sight.

Shortly after he was born, Jackson was diagnosed with Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare inherited eye disease which affects approximately one in 80,000 people . There is currently no treatment for the condition which causes progressive deterioration of vision and leads to blindness.

Alicia, 30, and Kevin, 34, have raised thousands of pounds to support the work of Fight for Sight in researching the condition with help from their family and friends. Their fundraising activities have included hosting a live music event in Welwyn Garden City, taking part in mountain climbs, trekking along the Great Wall of China and holding a number of golf days.

Alicia said: “We were devastated when Jackson was diagnosed with LCA when he was just three months old. However, his doctor has said that it is more than likely that something will happen during his lifetime to help him, and the research funded by Fight for Sight into the identification of the genes responsible for this disease has given us real hope. We’re so lucky that our family and friends are as dedicated as we are in raising money to help find a treatment for Jackson’s condition so that one day he’ll be able to see. We’re always looking for different ways to support the charity and raise awareness of his condition.”

Michele Acton, Chief Executive of Fight for Sight said: “Alicia, Kevin and their family and friends are working tirelessly to support Fight for Sight, and their energy and passion are a real inspiration. We hope as many people as possible continue to support them with their fundraising, which is enabling us to fund vital research into LCA, and is bringing hope to thousands of other children with this condition.”

To find out more about the work of Fight for Sight, and to support Jackson, please visit www.fightforsight.org.uk or call 0207 264 3900.

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Notes to Editors:
1.         For more information, please contact Lizzie Webster, Media and Communications Officer at Fight for Sight on 0207 264 3904 or at lizzie@fightforsight.org.uk
2.         Fight for Sight is the leading UK charity dedicated to funding pioneering research to prevent sight loss and treat eye disease.
3.         Fight for Sight is funding research at leading universities and hospitals throughout the UK. Major achievements to date include:
•           saving the sight of thousands of premature babies through understanding and controlling levels of oxygen delivery
•           restoring sight by establishing the UK Corneal Transplant Service enabling over 48,000 corneal transplants to take place
•           providing the funding for the research leading to the world’s first clinical trial for choroideremia
•           bringing hope to children with inherited eye disease by helping to fund the team responsible for the world’s first gene therapy clinical trial
•           identifying new genes responsible for keratoconusand Nance-Horan syndrome
4.         Fight for Sight’s current research programme is focusing on preventing and treating age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataract. We are also funding research into the causes of childhood blindness and a large number of rare eye diseases.