SHAKE IT OFF
Pick Me Up !|December 20, 2022 (Double Issue)
Donna McClelland, 41, from Barry, assumed her daughter was having trouble seeing, only hearing screams from the street revealed a deeper cause of concern...
EMMA DUNN AND ANAIS SEELY
SHAKE IT OFF

Dancing around the living room, it was as time for a boogie to Taylor Swift.

'Shake it off, shake it off,' Lacey-Mae, then four, screamed, putting on the performance of a lifetime.

Ever since a young age, Lacey immediately became interested in everything girly.

Which meant her dad Rob, and brothers Kyron, now 21, and Codie, now 16, had to put up with pop songs galore.

Despite the typical sibling wars taking place in our household, family life was normal, hectic and loving.

And we never had a reason to worry-Lacey would keep herself occupied watching videos on her iPad as soon as she came home from nursery.

Only, in January 2016, Lacey started to make some frequent complaints.

Holding onto her head, just above her left eye, she'd scrunch her face up in pain.

'My head hurts,' she'd say, griping onto her forehead.

Maybe it's just the iPad, I thought.

Especially, as Lacey had been holding the screen closer to her face than normal.

'Let's book an eye test,' I suggested to Rob, knowing that eyes-maybe he had bad she was struggling to see.

Only, the optician didn't think so.

'100%,' he smiled, sending us on our way.

Yet, that didn't make a difference to what was happening at home.

With the iPad placed just inches away from Lacey's face, she looked as if she had to concentrate to focus.

'Look at me,' I asked.

And that's when I spotted it-Lacey's eyes wobbled from side to side, even if she was just focusing on one object.

Alongside her clutching her head from time to time, me and Rob had also noticed that Lacey needed to grab onto surfaces to support herself.

At first, I thought it could be a normal case of clumsiness.

But Rob took her to the opticians again, in June 2016.

However, we were told that Lacey had 20/20 vision.

Something wasn't adding up.

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