Staff at a Bradford company are putting their best feet forward to give the gift of sight to a little girl.
Colleagues at PPI Advice Line, based at the Mid Point business park in Thornbury , Bradford, will join the friends and family of three-year-old Lamiyah Ellsworth to walk 29 miles along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal on Saturday, September 22, starting at 9am from Leeds and going all the way to Skipton .
The event is also being sponsored by Rosa Massimo, professional Italian hair design, based in Girlington .
Lamiyah’s mum, Larelle Ellsworth, 23, of Little Horton , started a campaign in January 2011 – Seeing Through Lamiyah’s Eyes – after her daughter was approved for ground-breaking stem cell treatment in China.
It was a glimmer of hope for Lamiyah, who has been blind since birth and aged three months was diagnosed with the rare brain condition septo optic dysplasia.
It means her mid-brain structures are not fully developed and both her optic nerves are small, resulting in blindness and developmental delays.
Doctors in the UK told Larelle there is no cure and she would just have to help her daughter learn to live with the condition.
However, the devoted mum did not accept this and submitted Lamiyah’s medical details to a clinic in China and was thrilled when Beike Biotechnology Co Ltd accepted her for treatment.
It involves injecting stem cells into the spinal canal, but in order for the treatment programme to go ahead Larelle needs to raise £30,000.
Organiser of the latest event, Jaspreet Sahota, a credit control manager at PPI Advice Line said: “I set myself a bit of a challenge and wanted to do the walk. We are based in Bradford and wanted to help a local cause.
“I read about Lamiyah and thought ‘she is a young, local girl and it will definitely make a difference to her’, so we made the decision to raise money for her.”
Larelle said: “It means a lot to me that we still have people who are wanting to support us to give Lamiyah the gift of sight. So many generous people have come forward to help us and I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody. It really means a lot to me and my family.”
To help Lamiyah, donate to a charity bank account: HSBC, branch sort code 40-13-15, account number 34402545. Cheques can be made payable to: Seeing Through Lamiyah’s Eyes or donate directly through the website: seeingthroughlamiyahseyes.co.uk.
If you would like to join the walk or help in any way, contact Larelle on email at: larelle_ellsworth @hotmail.com or via her facebook page Larelle Ellsworth.
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