A Welling mum has raised more than £700,000 to fund research into a rare eye condition that threatens to steal her son's sight.
Emma Salisbury established the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund in 2005, following her son Tommy's diagnosis with the inherited retinal condition at the age of four.
The rare disease, which impacts one in 50,000 people worldwide, triggers a gradual loss of vision for which there is currently no cure.
Emma and her family have been personally affected by Choroideremia over several generations, with the condition causing her grandfather to lose his sight when she was a child.
The 52-year-old said: "When Tommy received a diagnosis of having Choroideremia, I felt like I couldn't sit back and do nothing.
"The condition had already taken my grandfather's sight, my cousin had it, and I knew I might be a carrier too.
"I knew what was coming and that Tommy would eventually lose his sight.
"I thought, 'This will gradually get worse for Tommy, I haven't got time to sit around'.
"I knew that I had to do everything in my power to prevent that happening and launching the Fund was the best way to achieve that."
Through the years, Ms Salisbury's relentless campaigning has allowed for the organisation of countless fundraising events, which have attracted tremendous support from their local community.
The Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund has proved a lifeline in forwarding the research on the rare condition - its efforts paving the way for the first ever clinical trial for Choroideremia at Oxford Eye Hospital in 2014.
The Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund initially launched with the sight loss charity Fight for Sight, which joined forces with another sight loss charity, Vision Foundation, earlier this year.
Recognising her immense contribution, Fight for Sight/Vision Fund CEO, Mr Keith Valentine said: "Emma really is an inspiration.
"Through Emma and her family’s invaluable support, significant progress has been made into a new treatment for this condition.
"We are so grateful for her extraordinary dedication."
Now aged 23, Tommy Salisbury enjoys a successful career as a barrister's clerk, despite his sight condition.
His mother remains both optimistic and proud.
Ms Salisbury said: "We're still as enthusiastic today as we were when we started.
"And now Tommy is older, he's not just cheering me on at events, he's doing them himself.
"Team Tommy, which is him and 15 others, will be running the London Landmarks Half Marathon on 7 April next year, and then Tommy and six other members of Team Tommy will be running in the London Marathon a few weeks later on 21 April.
"He can't wait, and I couldn't be prouder of him."
For more details on the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund for Fight for Sight/Vision Foundation, visit the Fight for Sight website.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel