Family plea to help daughter see
THE parents of a little girl born with a rare condition that has made her almost totally blind have made a heartlfelt appeal to the Northern Ireland public to help give their baby daughter some sight.
Dakota Clarke was born with a brain condition called septo-optic dysplasia which has left her with a multitude of health problems, the most devastating of which is that she is almost totally blind.
Revolutionary treatment
Her parents Wilma and Darren, from Newtownabbey, want to bring their daughter to China for a revolutionary treatment which could help give her some vision.
They need 30,000 to bring Dakota to China for a series of injections of stem cells which have already helped an American child born with the same rare condition to partially see.
The ground-breaking treatment is not available anywhere else in the world.
Rare condition
Dakota, who will turn two this month, also suffers from other problems, including growth deficiencies, weak muscles, seizures and episodes of severe dehydration.
Wilma says the condition affects just one in 50,000 children in the UK
"It happens in the first few weeks of pregnancy – they have no idea why it happens or what causes it," she said.
Jordan's son
She revealed that there was at least one incidence of the condition that people would be aware of.
"Jordan – Katy Price's son, Harvey, was born with the same thing," she said.
"Harvey is on the big side, where Dakota is on the small – it's like two sides of the same coin."
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 13 February 2012
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Temperature: 4 C to 9 C
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