Greenock woman fears that she will go blind if she doesn't see a specialist soon

Helen McGoldrick, 56, was diagnosed with keratoconus as a child and has struggled with her sight for decades.

The condition, which causes blurred vision, has always been more pronounced in Helen's left eye and she has adapted to life with her visual impairment.

But doctors have now found a bleed at the back of her right eye which could have very serious consequences.

Helen has an appointment with specialists at Gartnavel Hospital in March - but fears that the process could be halted by all the disruption caused due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

She told the Tele that she was stunned to hear about what was happening behind her eye and terrified that she could be left without any sight.

Helen, who lives in Prospecthill Street, said: "It was like a punch in the stomach.

"My left eye has always been bad so my right eye has been my 'good eye'.

"The vision in my left eye is blurry and I can't see out of it at all.

"I'm petrified that I'm going to lose my sight completely.

"I've been crying myself to sleep some nights.

"I'm really worried that my referral will be put back due to coronavirus and it will just keep going on and on.

"I know hospitals are dealing with Covid but I think they still have to think about other patients."

Keratoconus causes the cornea of the eye to thin and gradually become cone shaped and the rare condition is much more common in men than in women.

At her recent appointment, doctors told Helen that the bleed had likely been caused by gel at the back of the eye pulling on the blood vessels.

The news is the latest in a series of problems with her eyes and ears which have affected Helen all her life.

She was born prematurely and from birth her family noticed there was something wrong with her sight.

She struggled at school - especially when the condition intensified when she was 14 and studying for exams.

Helen added: "My gran noticed something when I was born.

"Everyone thought I had a lazy eye but she maintained there was more to it.

"People at school just thought I was stupid."

When she was 19 and going out into the world of work, the condition hit Helen hard again.

Her sight improved after she had a cornea transplant around 20 years ago and at the time, medics said it would last her around 25 years.

She now fears that her sight will deteriorate more rapidly as the replacement cornea nears the end of its lifespan.

Helen has also been plagued by problems with her hearing over the years.

When she was a child, she found out she had a hole in her eardrum the size of a 5p piece - and later in life, her body rejected a ceramic bone which was placed inside her ear.

Her hearing now 'comes and goes' and she has sprays for it which help.

At the end of 2020, Helen told the Tele that she had been left in the Premier Inn hotel in Greenock for three months waiting on her toilet at her house being fixed amid an insurance wrangle.

She's now back at home - but says the saga with the bathroom repair put her under a lot of stress.

Helen believes it could have played a part in causing the bleed in her eye.

She is now concerned about what lies ahead and desperately hopes that she's able to see specialists at Gartnavel within weeks.

She added: "Doctors have said that stress could have played a part in this.

"I'm in regular contact with my optician and when he found out about the bleed he asked me if I have diabetes or high blood pressure.

"I've always had low blood pressure so it can't be due to that.

"I asked him 'will I lose my sight?' and he said 'hopefully not'.

"I am petrified.

"I have a lot of other health issues too and I am so worried."