SWANSEA: Meet Martha, the two-year-old with the pink cane who is the star of Guide Dogs’ new TV advert

A two-year-old from Swansea with a pink cane and turquoise glasses is on national television.

Martha Thompson is the toddler in Guide Dogs’ new advert, learning to walk on her own with a small white-tipped cane. The charity chose her, it says, to show how it helps children with sight loss grow up “confident, curious and excited to explore the world”.

The advert is part of Life Unleashed, a campaign the charity launched at the start of the month around the “firsts” of people with sight loss. Every person in it is a real Guide Dogs service user.

Martha was diagnosed with Leber congenital amaurosis when she was a few months old. It is a rare inherited condition of the retina that causes severe sight loss from birth.

Her parents, Caitlin and Daniel, went looking for help. “We reached out to lots of charities and found Guide Dogs to be the most helpful and supportive,” Daniel said. “They didn’t just signpost us to something online. They provided practical help and a community of support.”

The flashing toys that showed Martha could see light

Martha and Caitlin started going to weekly My Time to Play sessions in Gowerton, run by Guide Dogs for babies and toddlers with sight loss.

The charity’s habilitation specialists, who teach children with sight loss to move about and manage on their own, gave Caitlin advice on making the most of whatever vision Martha had. It turned out to be more than anyone thought.

“At that early stage we didn’t think Martha had any vision, so I’d naturally always go for noisy or tactile toys,” Caitlin said. “The habilitation specialists suggested that we try some bright and flashy toys too. And they were right. Through their help we discovered that Martha could follow the lights, and then they showed us how to encourage and develop that even further.”

“All that weight and worry is off your shoulders”

Caitlin had been taking Martha to ordinary baby groups, and dreading them.

“I’d make myself go to other baby groups so Martha could have those experiences. But I’d worry people would notice that her eyes look different, that they’d wonder why I’m talking to her more, or that I’d have to borrow extra toys to try to adapt the activities.”

“At My Time to Play, everything is already thought out. The sessions are completely accessible and inclusive, and everyone understands what your child needs. All that weight and worry is off your shoulders, and you can just go and enjoy yourself.”

The day she went off to find the horse

Martha had been a clingy baby, Caitlin said. Then, on wobbly legs, she went.

“The first time she went off on her own it was a huge moment. She was just learning to toddle and was standing on her wobbly legs. There was a bright coloured horse she liked, and I couldn’t believe it when she just disappeared off to find it.”

“It was such a wonderful feeling to sit back and see her toddle off, happy and confident, knowing she felt secure enough to explore. Everyone else in the group was cheering her on with me too.”

The sessions also introduced the family to other parents in the same position. “We began to feel part of a community,” Caitlin said. “Otherwise, I think we would have felt quite lonely because we might have felt like the only family with a vision-impaired child in our area. It was just so nice to realise we weren’t alone.”

Guide Dogs is better known for the dogs, but much of its work in Swansea never involves one. Last month a Swansea family climbed Pen y Fan to raise money for the charity after its vision rehabilitation specialist helped mum Catrin Pugh regain her independence with a long cane.

Details of how Guide Dogs supports children with sight loss are at guidedogs.org.uk.

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.