Blind Dorset dad raises over £4,000 for eye charity after 250km challenge

A father of two from Dorset who is registered blind, has raised over £4,000 for eye research charity Fight for Sight by running 250km in January.

Dean Argent, 35, from Poole was joined by his eight-year-old daughter Laila for his final lap around Poole Park on Sunday, (31 January) as his family and friends cheered him on at a safe distance from the side lines.

Dean was diagnosed with the rare genetic eye condition choroideremia in 2012 and told he would likely be blind within a few years.

Choroideremia progressively leads to blindness due to a gradual loss of cells in and around the retina, the specialised light-sensitive layer that lines the back of the eye. The condition is caused by a faulty gene which can be inherited and passed down through families. Men are much more likely to develop the condition, but women can pass the faulty gene on to their children.

Dean started fundraising for eye research charity Fight for Sight in the hope that someday there will be a widely available treatment for his eye condition. Dean has now successfully completed his challenge and is encouraging others to go out there and do the same.

He said:

"I want to say a massive thank you to everybody who supported Fight for Sight and donated to my challenge. If you think you cant run because you're not fit and your eyes are bad, I just want to say if I can do it, you can do it. I've gone further and faster than I ever thought I could go."

Through the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund, Fight for Sight funded vital early-stage research at Imperial College in 2008 that has led to the development of a new gene therapy treatment for choroideremia. The gene therapy is already halting the disease and even restoring sight for some patients at clinical trial. It's hoped it will be approved for use by the NHS in the next few years.

Dean said:

"I want to raise money for eye research so that one day there could be a cure for choroideremia. My two daughters are carriers of the faulty choroideremia gene so I hope that by the time they have children and sons of their own, there will be a treatment available."

Director of Engagement at Fight for Sight, Ikram Dahman said:

"We are so grateful to Dean and all our fantastic supporters who fundraise so tirelessly for eye research. Sight loss touches the lives of millions of people across the UK and the number is growing every day. And yet, research for new treatments and cures is desperately under-funded. At Fight for Sight, we're 100% dedicated to funding the best eye research in the UK. We rely on the help of supporters like Dean - now more than ever - to make sure vital research doesn't stop during the pandemic and beyond."