Meet with a little girl who have rare condition, gives her giant pupils

News24xx.com -  It’s not uncommon for people to buy cosmetic contact lenses to make their pupils looks more big. 

But, Mehlani Martinez, one-year-old has that look naturally thanks to a rare condition that makes her pupils looks unusually large.  Mehlani has Axenfeld-Gieger syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

But while her giant eyes may look intriguing, but it come with a serious problem, ie Mehlani’s condition could blind. 

As information, children who born with Axenfeld-Gieger syndrome have small irises, allowing the pupil to take up a larger part of the eye. Having an unusually shaped pupil causes sensitivity to light, as that’s where light enters the eye. 

It means that Mehlani must wear sunglasses whenever she goes outside to prevent damage to her eyes.

Her condition also gave Mehlani a 50% chance of developing glaucoma. At just one year old, Mehlani was diagnosed with glaucoma. 

Glaucoma will increased pressure within the eyeball that causes gradual loss of sight. 

Her mother, Karina worries that her daughter will soon lose her sight. Mehlani has already needed surgery. At five months old she had artificial drainage canals added to her eyes to prevent the build up of fluid and pressure. Karina is keen to make sure Mehlani feels secure about the unusual appearance of her eyes.

Karina shares photos of Mehlani on Twitter, where they flooded with comments about the one-year-old’s beautiful eyes.

"I’d never heard of anybody being born with [glaucoma]. People always say she’s so beautiful and she’s s cute, but I felt conflicted because people notice something different about her eyes," Karina says as quoted from Daily Mail Online. 

The mother hopes that she can raise awareness of Mehlani’s rare condition, and for her daughter’s birthday this year set up a fundraiser for the Children’s Glaucoma Foundation.

 

 

 

 

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