Dad finishes seven marathons in seven days in aid of sight-saving research for young daughter

A dad raising money to fund a groundbreaking clinical trial which could save his daughter's eyesight has finished his seventh marathon in seven days.

Joe Marsden's 13-month-old daughter Raya, has albinism which not only affects the pigment in her skin and hair but also causes sight problems and blindness.

A team of researchers at the University of Southampton think they may have found a drug which could be a cure but they need thousands of pounds in funding to start the clinical trial before it can be tested.

To raise money for the trial Joe, 41, from Scarisbrick, Liverpool, took on the mammoth task of running seven marathons in seven days.

He ran two two marathons in Southampton, starting and finishing in Guildhall Square, on 1 and 2 September, before moving to Leicester, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and finally his hometown of Liverpool on Saturday 7 September.

Writing on their social media page after crossing the seventh finish line, his partner said: "What a man, what a father.

"The absolute best day crossing the finish line together with our kids. 7 marathons in 7 days completed.

"Now we’re going home as a family & Joe is going to have a well deserved rest & get looked after by us.

"Can’t thank everyone enough, everyone who’s been on this journey & who’s joined along the way. We love you all & are forever grateful."

Joe is fundraising for Dr Helena Lee ’s pioneering research into albinism.

Dr Lee, Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton, has discovered that a drug called Levodopa that is used to treat Parkinson’s Disease and movement disorders can potentially help to improve the sight of children with the condition.

The next stage for her study, called OLIVIA (the role of Oral Levodopa in improving Visual development in Infants and young children with Albinism), is to undertake clinical trials – but she needs funding to finance these trials.

Dr Lee said: “The work we have done to date is extremely promising. Severe visual impairment is common amongst those with albinism as they grow up.

"Our work has demonstrated that, if Levodopa is given from a young age, we can influence how the eyes grow and develop, and improve visual function.

“My aim is to run a small-scale trial with 10 children initially, followed by a much larger trial.

"Then, we would monitor the children as they grow up to determine the success of the treatment.

“If OLIVIA is successful, it will transform how we treat albinism in children. It will also set an important precedent for other paediatric eye diseases.”

Visit Joe’s fundraising page to support his challenge.

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