Victoria focused on raising cash for sight charity
A woman from Bath is taking on 50 challenges to mark her 50th birthday and to raise money for eye research charity Fight for Sight.
Victoria Humphries has the eye condition keratoconus, which causes the cornea to become progressively thinner and weaker over time, eventually causing a coneshaped protrusion to develop.
This causes blurred and distorted sight as it prevents the light that enters the eye from being correctly focused.
Victoria recalls driving up the motorway one day in her late 20s and suddenly realising she couldn’t read the signs properly - she went to her local optician for a check up.
The optician happened to be an expert in keratoconus and spotted instantly that this was what Victoria had. Victoria has sourced special contacts that have significantly improved her quality of life, but she believes much more research is needed into the condition.
She said: “Keratoconus is a condition that is rarely focussed on and the long-term prognosis isn’t great, as my sight is getting worse. Noone really knows how much the condition affects me. I always have red eyes and people are often asking me if I had a good night out or am I OK? I just laugh and come up with some excuse.”
Victoria loves to take on major challenge events and in 1997, she was part of the first all-female expedition to the North Pole. She decided as she approached her 50th birthday to set herself 50 challenges and raise money for charity along the way.
In January 2020, Victoria climbed Kilimanjaro and hopes to run the London Marathon next year. She has planned a variety of other activities for her 50th birthday.
She said: “I love the slightly more wild challenges which are in my comfort zone, but I am a really traditional person so I’ve also decided I’m going to do things like dye my hair and do a stand-up routine, which terrify me. I’d rather run 10 marathons than do either of those, but that is exactly the reason why I am determined to do as many of these kinds of challenges as possible.”
Director of engagement at Fight for Sight, Ikram Dahman, said: “We’re so grateful to Victoria for taking on these challenges and fundraising for us. The science we fund is on the verge of so many discoveries that are already transforming lives. A huge thank you to Victoria, whose efforts will help us to achieve our goal of creating a world everyone can see.”
You can read more about Victoria’s challenges and donate to her fundraising efforts on Fight for Sight’s website fightforsight.org.uk.