A MADDINGTON girl could be one of the beneficiaries of a new Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) machine.
Lillian Pettit was born prematurely and suffers from short-sightedness as a result, which requires twice-a-year appointments with PMH’s Ophthalmology Department.
Her mother Kim Pettit said her daughter was a tough cookie who refused to let her sight restrict her life, but it did impact her in certain ways.
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READ NOW“The last time we went to PMH they said if a ball is thrown at her, she can only focus on it when it is about a metre away from her,” she said.
“She plays tee-ball but she can’t really see until it’s close up to her. In the classroom, she’s got to be right up close otherwise she can’t see the boards.”
Currently, there is no equipment available at PMH which allows diagnosis of the eye’s anterior segment, a major area susceptible to serious issues.
However, a $30,000 Specsavers donation will be put toward a Pentacam, an innovative piece of technology able to make earlier and more thorough diagnosis of serious eye conditions.
Ms Pettit said she was delighted with the acquisition of the new Pentacam and hoped it would help her daughter.
“If it wasn’t for PMH, I don’t think her sight would’ve been picked up as early as she was,” she said.
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