The Countess talks to Camilla Tominey about how her daughter's battle inspired her own battle for blind and visually impaired people around the world

During HRH's recent busy visit to Qatar, The Countess of Wessex took the time to talk to Camilla Tominey - Sunday Express' Royal Editor & NBC Royal expert. In her candid interview The Countess has spoken of her daughter's battle for sight - and how it has inspired her to campaign on behalf of blind and visually impaired people around the world.

Print screen of Sunday Express front page via Nick Sutton's Twitter feed.

Lady Louise was born prematurely in 2003 in dramatic circumstances - The Countess had to undergo an emergency caesarean section after suffering a placental abruption, a potentially life-threatening condition (to both mother and child) which caused her to lose several pints of blood. As a result of her traumatic birth, Lady Louise had suffered from a severe squint.

Squint is also known as strabismus - condition that interferes with binocular vision because it prevents a person from directing both eyes simultaneously towards the same fixation point; the eyes do not properly align with each other. Heterotropia is a medical synonym for the condition. 

 

The Countess explained: “Premature babies can often have squints because the eyes are the last thing in the baby package to really be finalised. Her squint was quite profound when she was tiny and it takes time to correct it. You’ve got to make sure one eye doesn’t become more dominant than the other but she’s fine now – her eyesight is perfect.”

HRH was also keen to set the record straight after years of misreporting of Louise’s condition: “Louise was born with a squint. People have called it exotropia. It wasn’t ever exotropia – that has been incorrect.”

In Lady Louise's case, the condition really was profound, and although the Countess did not say if her daughter had surgery, HRH however confirmed, that Louise “had the squint corrected because cosmetically it was awkward for her”.

The Countess, inspired by her daughter's battle, now raises support for people who have visual impairments.  She said: “I can’t shy away from it, I do have to be the front woman. It’s about confidence though, as well – they don’t see the jelly legs underneath.”

The Countess also said she didn’t feel the need to be in the limelight although she emphasised: “I do have opinions!”

HRH is a Global Ambassador of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and a Patron for Vision 2020, an initiative aiming to eliminate avoidable blindness over the next five years. Just recently HRH became a Vice-Patron of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, which one of main aims is to end avoidable blindness. The Countess over the last decade visited projects helping the blind and those with sight problems in Tanzania, Bangladesh and India.

Sophie says: “There is no smile quite like the one that is returned from eyes that once more can see.”

Picture via Orbis UK flickr stream, shared under a Creative Commons License

For full article and interview, check Sunday Express, click here. Please check also paper version. Camilla Tominey explained to me, that next week, there also will be 'magazine - special issue - one to keep'!

The Countess talks to Camilla Tominey about how her daughter's battle inspired her own battle for blind and visually impaired people around the world 2015-10-11T02:44:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: sho fia