A WOMAN blinded by a condition where her eyelids refused to open has spoken of her amazement at seeing again.

Roz Keene, of Harwell, suffers from a condition called blepharospasm, which causes her eyelids to close tightly for long periods of time.

The mother-of-two began suffering from the neurological disorder two years ago and within months could barely open her eyes at all.

Mrs Keene said: “It involves the same part of the brain that goes wrong with Parkinson’s Disease, both are movement related.

“In my case, it’s my eyes that are affected. If it was left untreated, my eyes would not open at all.”

Although the 50-year-old is mostly cured of the condition thanks to Botox injections, she remembered the day when she first noticed something unusual with her sight.

She said: “I can remember going outside and it was a really dull day, but it felt like it was really bright and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

“Then I noticed they would close when I was reading or watching the television.

“Then it progressed really quickly and at its worst, my eyes would close for several hours.

“I tried to put all the effort I could into opening them. I might have been able to get them open for a split second, it was like they were really heavy.

“The doctors had difficulty manually opening them and that’s a sign it was really bad.

“I’ve had tremendous support from my family, my husband and my friends.

“But it has been frightening, particularly when the treatment wasn’t working at all.”

Last weekend, her husband Dave, 47, walked 70 miles to Southampton, back to the source of the River Test in Berkshire and then home to Harwell, in aid of The Dystonia Society, which funds research into the condition.

So far, he has raised almost £1,600.

Mrs Keene added: “When you’re walking down the road, you can tell when something like a lorry comes past because you can feel the wind’s movement.”

She said: “When I could see again, it was completely amazing, even the simple things like seeing my back garden was like a revelation.

“It was almost too much to take in.

“Everything was really bright and I could see the detail of things.

“It certainly makes you appreciate everything in the world.”

eallen@oxfordmail.co.uk To make a donation, go to justgiving.com/ davekeene