'I can see a pencil but I can't see an elephant' - mum's rare illness

A MUM-OF-THREE is battling a rare disorder that is gradually making her blind.

Sarah Bailey has a type of Usher's Syndrome which means she has partial hearing loss and is also losing her sight.

Her sight has been deteriorating since she was a teenager and now Sarah can only see a small circle in front of her, similar to "tunnel vision".

But she says she is determined to live an active a life as possible and is doing a parachute jump to help raise funds for stem cell research – which could halt her sight deterioration.

"Sometimes, I'm very bubbly but, other times, I get down," said Sarah, who lives in Skirlaugh with her husband Martin, 47, son Ashley, 18, and daughters Jessica, eight, and five-year-old Millie.

"The best way I had it described to me is you can see the small pencil on the table in front of you, but not the elephant to the side of you.

"I can get around the house OK from memory but, occasionally, when I let my guard down, I fall over.

"It has never been anything too serious but, once, I bent to pick something off the floor and smashed my nose on the back of a chair."

"I don't go out at night and I don't go to the shops on my own anymore.

"But I can pick the girls up from school because it is only across the road and I know it off by heart."

Sarah is hoping a cure can be found in her lifetime.

"They are finding out more and more about it all the time," she said.

"They are getting closer to stopping the sight getting worse, but it could be a while before they can reverse the effects.

"That is the thing that keeps me going – the thought that something can be done in my lifetime."

She was born with partial hearing loss but, aged 14, doctors realised her sight was becoming a problem.

Sarah, 40, said: "My hearing has pretty much remained static since I was born. But when I was about 14, doctors thought I had a sight issue.

"I'd fumbled through with my hearing loss all my life but to find out I was losing my sight as well was just horrible."

Since her diagnosis, Sarah's sight has deteriorated from the outside in – leaving her with just 10-degree vision.

She can no longer see to the sides, only a small channel in front of her.

Sarah said: "I think 'Is this the rest of my life?'

"Winter is especially bad as the light means I can't see well at all.

"Each year that goes by, it gets harder and harder."

Despite her condition, Sarah, of Skirlaugh, has now decided to do a 10,000ft skydive to raise money for RP Fighting Blindness (retinitis pigmentosa). The charity is trying to raise enough money to fund research into the condition, which could eventually lead to a cure, or at the very least "freeze frame" the syndrome so sufferers' sight does not deteriorate anymore.

Sarah, who is registered blind and is on the waiting list for a guide dog, said: "I guess I'm throwing myself in at the deep end with the charity parachute jump.

"I've never done anything like this before, but I am hoping to raise about £2,000.

"It will be nice to do it while I can still see at least some of the views. I'm not nervous at the moment, but I probably will be when the day comes round."

Sarah's skydive is in Bridlington on Saturday, July 27.

Visit doitforcharity.com/sarahbailey to sponsor her.