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Aiming high for eye charity

A DAREDEVIL clinical technician from Northampton got a bird’s eye view of the world when he took the plunge for a charity skydive, despite having a lifelong hatred of heights.

Lyndon Bird faced his biggest fear head-on when he jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet to raise money for the Macular Society.

The 32-year-old, who works at Tompkins, Knight & Son Optometrists in Kingsley Road, Northampton is taking on the challenge as part of a drive to raise awareness of the charity’s work in honour of his late grandmother Joan Shine and all the practices’ patients who suffer from macular degeneration.

He said: “For as long as I can remember I have been terrified of heights so, when the opportunity came along to raise some money for the Macular Society it gave me the chance to tackle one of my biggest fears head on.

“Jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet is one of the scariest things I can possibly imagine but it pales into comparison with losing your sight due to macular degeneration. It’s a cause close to my heart and hopefully I can raise plenty of money.”

Age-related macular degeneration, also called AMD, is the deterioration of the macula – the small central area of the retina of the eye that controls the sharpness of your central vision.

The health of the macula determines our ability to read, recognise faces, drive, watch television, use a computer, and perform any visual task that requires us to see fine detail.

Brian Tompkins, owner of TK&S Optometrists, said: “Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss among older people and, as a result of an increasingly ageing population, the number of people affected by AMD is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead.

“We have a number of patients affected by it and we are doing all we can to invest in the latest technology and products to detect it and help prevent it such as the MP-Eye by Azul Optics and Macushield macular pigment supplements.”

To donate to Lyndon’s fundraising bid visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lyndon-bird. For more information on TK&S Optometrists, call 01604 714413 or visit www.tks-optometrists.co.uk

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