Bionics and Me

I only just found out today that my late sister had a glass eye.

I was watching a CBBC program this afternoon about two children who were first getting prosthetic limbs: a little girl getting both her legs and one arm, and a boy getting a new electronic arm after his was amputated in an accident.

These bionics, prosthetics are an amazing achievement in science. I found myself wondering at God’s miraculous work here, and the children who frequently have to cope with situations like this. As I understand, children who contract meningitis at an early age have a chance of losing their limbs. It’s a shame, but, on the other hand: look how far science has come to enable ‘elelctronomic nerves’ to move a mechanic arm on impulse!

Bionic Arm (picture from Google)

But what really shocked me today was that knowledge that bionical science had been part of the life of my sister, who was diagnosed with eye-cancer after she was five and who died two years later from a final fit, despite seemingly recovering; like Spanish Flu, or other terrible diseases, the final loss can occur suddenly.

My sister was given a new eye when she lost her own. It was made to be a visual replica of her other eye, in colour, shape, everything a glass eye must be, though her own eye, removed to combat the cancer, would never be able to work anatomically again. Yes, all that shocks me, startles me, since I was too young to know, physically, what was going on; I had never imagined that the Retinoblastoma would have caused more than just the hair-loss (in itself the consequence of treatment rather than the cancer).

This Retinoblastoma cancer is not as common as other cancers, but still as devastating, as it affects young children, most often those under five. However, even when cured, the effects of this cancer (such as my sister’s losing an eye) can last a lifetime throughout the family.

A charity that focuses on children with the cancer Retinoblastoma is CHECT. It’s their 25^th year this year, and they are aiming to raise £250,000. 

This is the website, where all the facts and statistics and fundraising can be found: http://www.chect.org.uk/cms/index.php/signs-and-symptoms/what-might-happen-next/77-news-news/329-fundraise-supporting-us-25th-anniversary

Please take a look and consider supporting this charity, especially since it is one that is close to my heart, which I have been trying to support myself as an extra, but I have, yes, been struggling to keep my promise. There is not enough time in the world for me to fund-raise as much as I’d like. Please consider for yourselves supporting CHECT’s 25 scheme in any way you can, even if that is just giving a little. Let’s help beat all kinds of cancer. It may be a clichéd phrase, but that sentence even includes those less common cancers. Everybody matters.