A charity champion who has made dreams come true for hundreds of poorly children with Christmas trips to Lapland has thanked clinicians for saving her eyesight.
Back in the late 1990s, Maria Moseley, formerly from Stockport, was one of the founders of the north west charity 'When You Wish Upon a Star', which is dedicated to taking sick children on trips of a lifetime. For over 20 years, Maria has played a part in helping around 1,700 children to visit Father Christmas - magical trips and photographs often covered by the Manchester Evening News .
Specialist treatment the grandmother-of-five, now 75, received at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital's Oxford Road Campus meant she could continue organising the Lapland trips between 2012 and 2018. Maria started receiving her first injections for Acute Macular Degeneration (AMD), a condition which can make patients go blind, at the hospital back in 2012.
Now - 10 years on from her first treatment - she has written a special letter of thanks to Romi Chhabra, the Consultant Ophthalmologist who managed her condition, praising her for her support over the last decade.
Maria, who now lives in Northwich, Cheshire, 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 has also meant Maria has maintained her hobby of making handmade greetings cards for friends and family.
She 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 is 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."
Ms Chhabra said: "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.
"Maria has moved homes a few times but has always chosen to remain as one of our patients at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
"Having looked after Maria for so many years, it is my belief that she comes here because she feels that she's receiving the best possible treatment, support and care for her chronic eye condition – this is from a very empathic, understanding, caring and expert medical retina team."
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