Meet Alessia 👏🌟
23 May 2023
Alessia is 3 and a half years old and started patching when she was only 6 months old after being diagnosed with an Optic Nerve Coloboma 😮💨 (a gap or hole in the optic nerve caused by the underdevelopment of the eye during pregnancy). She wears her patch for half of the day and during this time, she likes to draw, kick the soccer ball and play eye doctors with her big sister! ⚽️ 👩⚕️
Alessia's mum, Sofia, said that because she started patching so young, she just thought it was normal for a long time! However, she became more resistant when she started childcare, often getting upset when her teacher tried to apply her patch. Now that Alessia is older and their family lives in Tanzania, "we tell her how beautiful and colourful her patches are. Here, many women wear bright colourful fabrics, so we tell her she will look just like them! ... she also gets a smartie when she puts it on!" 🌈
Keep up the incredible work Alessia, you're amazing ❤️