Baby Enzo's Story - Retinopathy of Prematurity

Hundreds of babies are going blind due to something that is completely preventable.

Most premature babies get given extra oxygen to help their tiny lungs. When they do, hospital staff need to ensure that the oxygen level is not too rich and check the blood vessels in each retina are growing normally.

If these vital checks aren't done (or aren't done regularly), bundles of blood vessels can grow out of control, causing the retina to detach and robbing a child of vision before they ever have a chance to see; this is called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).

Baby Enzo, receiving treatment for ROP at the CBM-supported hospital in Peru. Photo : CBM

In the UK, highly trained doctors and nurses know all about the risks of ROP, so it hardly ever occurs. In places like Peru, infants don't get the careful monitoring they need, as hospitals are just too overburdened and staff don't have the training they need.

"And if anyone gives even a cup of water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42

Premature babies and their mums in Peru depend on the CBM funding that reaches caring doctors like Luz Gordillo. Every year Dr Gordillo checks hundreds of infants' eyes and provides corrective treatment to prevent children from going blind.

One such baby Dr Gordillo was able to help is baby Enzo. His mother Jacqueline burst into tears when she heard that Enzo would need treatment to save his sight. After the surgery, tears turned to smiles of relief; that all was fine and that baby Enzo would only need a few eye drops to complete his treatment. Little Enzo's sight was saved.

ROP is just one of the many treatable cause of blindness that doctors who rely on CBM funding are working to cure:

	A gift of £24 could provide surgery to restore sight to an adult blinded by cataracts
	A gift of £40 could provide and education to help a child with low vision or blindness become more independent in the future
	A gift of £95 could cover the costs of Cataract surgery for a child
	A gift of £120 would supply everything needed to help an opthalmic surgeon like Liz Gordillo reach her next patient with ROP and perform the complex treatment to correct it.

With your help, we can prevent children from going blind, and in many cases even reverse blindness through treatment and surgery.