Sian's story

Sian was struggling to read her maths work on the white board at school and her vision was starting to go blurry.

Her parents thought a trip to the opticians would help, but instead 10-year-old Sian found out she had cataracts.

Just six months later Sian was smiling again after benefiting from a £150,000 suite of state-of-art eye equipment at The Children's Hospital, which was funded by donations to The Children's Hospital Charity.

Sian first started experiencing problems with her eyesight back in February 2010. Sian's mum, Rosanna, said: "Not long after Sian mentioned she couldn't see the whiteboard we took a trip to Newcastle and Sian told me that she couldn't read the departures board at the station either.

"I thought that I needed to take her to see an optician because it seemed strange she couldn't read it. He was pretty sure he had detected cataracts and said he would refer Sian to visit the hospital.

"We went to The Children's Hospital in March 2010 and were placed under the care of Mr Neil Rogers. He confirmed that Sian had indeed got cataracts on both eyes and would need two operations to remove them."

Sian was one of the first children to benefit from three specialist machines installed at the hospital. The first takes measurements of the eye before surgery, another sophisticated suction machine removes the cloudy lens and a special laser is also used during the procedure.

Sian's dad, Alex, said: "We cannot thank the staff at The Children's Hospital enough for what they have done for Sian.

"The operations have made a big difference to her life. She can see things very well now, both in the distance and close up, and she no longer needs glasses. She has now become more confident at school, as she was a little withdrawn before."

Sian said: "My vision is so unbelievable, it has just changed so much and that has changed my life in so many different ways. I think Mr Rogers is a legend for what he has done for me."

If you'd like to help us provide the hospital with more specialist equipment, you can donate here