A nan who has been fighting to save her own eyesight has still made Christmas wishes come true for poorly children.
Maria Moseley helped found the North West branch of charity 'When You Wish Upon a Star' back in 1998. Over 20 years, she has played a part in helping 1,700 sick children to go on a special visit to see Santa in Lapland.
The charity supports children and their families by giving them trips of a lifetime, CheshireLive reports, and up until 2018, Maria, 75, used to take around 100 children and their families to Lapland each year. But the grandmother-of-five found herself struggling back in 2012.
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The gran, from Delamere, was diagnosed with Acute Macular Degeneration (AMD), a condition that can make people go blind. She started receiving injections at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and was able to continue her work in spreading Christmas joy.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of her treatment and she has written a special letter of thanks to Romi Chhabra, the consultant ophthalmologist, to praise her for the support through the last decade. Through ten years of injections, Maria said it has changed her life, and so many other lives.
The 75-year-old wrote: "Ms Chhabra consoled me through the tears as the realisation of the seriousness of my condition threatened to overwhelm me, and she understood the impact AMD has not only had on me, but my family and friends.
"She has encouraged me to carry on with the treatments and I’ve since had 10 years of injections, now in both eyes. The support I’ve had means that I could keep planning the trips for the children. It’s not just changed my life - it’s also helped so many children."
Keeping her sight also means that Maria has kept her hobby of making handmade greetings card, which she sends to friends and family. Maria added: "I have had to change the card designs over the years to make the designs simpler, as my vision has become more limited, but I’ve kept it as a hobby for a decade which would not have been possible if I hadn’t received the on-going treatment at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital team.
"I moved from Stockport to Northwich in 2018 but stayed with the hospital, because of the excellent care and support which I received. They’ve made such a difference to my life and I can’t thank them enough."
Speaking about the letter, Ms Chhabra said Maria receives the "best possible treatment, support and care" from a "very empathic, understanding, caring and expert medical retina team".
She added: "We were so pleased to have received this letter - what a magnificent woman Maria is in so many ways. We made her wish come true by keeping her eyesight going over the last 10 years, while Maria made the trip of a lifetime come true for so many children.
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