A toddler is at risk of blindness due to a rare condition meaning her eyes won't stop growing - and once even cried blood . Little Aretria Bice, 21 months, was born with big blue eyes - which friends, family and strangers all found adorable. But at six months old, in May 2023, one of Aretria's baby blues turned "milky" and any light caused the tot to scream in pain.
After being rushed to hospital she was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality which saw extreme and growing pressure on the optic nerve - causing her eyes to swell. She had a string of urgent surgeries - the last two to insert a tube to drain the excess fluid from her eyes. But each one failed, and one even left her crying blood - and now Aretria is now waiting to go under the knife for the sixth time.
Her worried parents, Louise, 35, and Connor Bice, 30, have been told Aretria's eyes will never get smaller once they've grown in size. And they're growing desperate for a solution as their daughter - who is already extremely short-sighted - will lose more vision as time goes on. Louise, a stay-at-home mum, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, said: "Aretria has major damage to her optic nerves - she can only see things closer than 8cm.
"She has had five surgeries to try to stabilise the optic pressure which would stop her vision damage, but things keep getting worse. She got a tube put into her right eye in March to relieve the pressure but it didn't work and she even cried blood after because her stitches came loose. "Sh.
