Kate Winslet takes poorly fan to theatre and donates £5,000 to see Northern Lights before girl goes blind
Heartwarming video (click to play above) shows how film star Kate Winslet surprised one of her fans - by helping to fulfil some of the activities she wanted to do before she turns blind. Lily-Rae Merchant-O'Hanlon, 12, in the video, was diagnosed with Stargardt disease last December.
£5,000 donation from Kate Winslet
The inherited condition causes blurriness in the central part of the eye and her mother, Emma Merchant, set up a GoFundMe to help Lily-Rae enjoy as many visual experiences before her sight worsens.
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Her first trip was to see the Northern Lights thanks to a £5,000 donation from Titanic star Kate Winslet. The Oscar winning actress was so touched by Lily-Rae’s brave battle she even invited her to join her for a night at the theatre.
Kate Winslet’s act of kindness
Lily-Rae and Emma travelled to London to meet Kate before the trio watched My Neighbour Totoro at London’s Barbican Theatre. Before the show Kate posed for pictures with the schoolgirl who she also arranged for her to tick off another item on her list, to feed tigers at Knowsley Safari Park - which can be seen in the video above.
Emma, from Nottingham, said: “It just felt like we'd known each other forever. Kate was very, very welcoming, it sounds like a funny thing to say, but she was just very normal, very humble.
Dream of seeing Northern Lights
“We are so grateful to her for her donations and help in raising the profile of Lily’s condition. Lily did a thank you card for Kate and her family but she did it in Braille.
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Hide Ad"We also gave them the Braille alphabet as well so they've got to go away and decipher the message.”
Emma has managed to raise more than £10,000 on GoFundMe to help fund a “visual bucket list” of fun activities for Lily-Rae before her sight deteriorates.
Bucket list before sight loss
Earlier this year Lily-Rae fulfilled her dream of seeing the Northern Lights after the family travelled to Finland. Lily-Rae now wants to see Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower and go on a safari in Kenya.
Emma, an executive assistant and DJ, said she is determined to give Lily-Rae as many new experiences as she possibly can.
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Hide AdShe added: “People have been so generous and they’ve really understood what we are trying to do for Lily-Rae who is coping with her condition so well. For me, it's the matter of having a timescale.
Rare illness causes blindness
“It's the 'how long have we got?', so let's see what we can do. I said to her, 'I'll do anything to get you to see the world'.'
Emma noticed her daughter's poor eyesight when she was just five after Lily-Rae struggled to read at school. After a series of tests, the youngster was diagnosed with Stargardt disease.
Stargardt disease is an inherited eye condition, which affects one in 10,000 people, according to the Macular Society, and causes blurriness in the central part of the eye. Doctors say that Lily-Rae’s sight is deteriorating, but it is hoped she will keep some of her peripheral vision.
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Hide AdShe can only see from 6ft or less and uses a font size 64 to read her laptop. Despite her condition, brave Lily-Rae refuses to be downhearted.
She said: “If there's anything you feel is wrong with you, it's not a disability and no one should see it as a disability. They should see it as an ability.”
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