Smiling Blind Baby: This Happy Child Suffers From A Serious Disease

Despite the beautiful smile, this baby is blind and suffers from a serious disease. At 16-months of age, his parents are desperately trying to raise funds to give him a chance at a normal life.

Adorable baby Patrick Heaton’s eyes work perfectly, however, because of a disease called cerebral visual impairment (CVI), his brain does not process the messages it sends and he is blind. This horrible disease has also left the happy boy immobile.

Damien Heaton and Lily Cunningham’s lives were turned upside down when they received the heartbreaking diagnosis. Now, they are doing everything in their power to raise the funds they need so that baby Patrick can receive life-saving treatment in the U.S.

Because of the debilitating illness, this smiling blind baby has developmental problems, problems with mobility, and chronic digestion problems that leave him sick most days and nights, according to Wales Online. Patrick cannot walk or sit and is barely able to hold his bottle and his father — who is living with his parents in Wales — says that his development has fallen behind other children with vision problems.

The parents of the smiling blind baby have set up a website and started a funding campaign, asking for help. This has gotten the attention of some big football stars who have donated generously, but there is still a lot of money to raise to reach the $23,600 needed for Patrick’s treatment and his father is obviously concerned for his future.

“The outlook for Patrick’s sight is not great at all (without the U.S. therapy).”

“There’s no treatment – medicines, surgeries that can cure him. Close family, immediate family, health care professionals, doctors, are extremely concerned about Patrick’s mobility and vision.”

Patrick’s parents realized something was wrong when he was just six-months-old and they noticed he wasn’t following objects with his eyes. According to Dr. Roman-Lantzy, “CVI is caused by damage to the visual centers of the brain, which interferes with communication between the brain and the eyes. The eyes are able to see, but the brain is not interpreting what is being seen.” When the eye specialist shone a light in the baby’s eye, his pupils didn’t dilate.

This smiling blind baby’s parents say in a similar case, another child suffering from the condition has made incredible progress thanks to the treatment they seek for their son. The parents of five-year-old Finley Lamb were told their child would never walk and now he reportedly enjoys walking two-miles to school.

According to Patrick’s parents, experts have told them his vision could be restored to an eight out of 10 standard and they are confident his other problems can also be “corrected” with appropriate therapy.

Despite all his issues, this blind baby— who attends a local day care — is a happy child, according to his mother and just “keeps smiling.” Patrick’s parents are actively planning fundraising activities, with one uncle running a marathon in the fall. So far they have raised only a fraction of the money they need to bring the baby to the U.S.

[Image via Wales Online]