A seven-year-old girl is fundraising for her “brave, strong, funny, amazing” older sister who was born blind and hopes to help other children with sight impairments. Aalijah Thompson, from East Hull, is walking a mile a day, after being inspired by her older sister Laiyla, eight.
The girls’ stepmum, Farrah Taylor, said Aalijah is “like a mother hen” to her sister, and her younger step brother Ryder, four. “She is brilliant,” Farrah said. “She guides them and is amazing with them. She’ll get Laiyla dressed and she never leaves her out. The bond is unreal. She really loves her sister. Even Laiyla is the same. They are so protective over each other.”
Laiyla was born blind after her optic nerve failed to develop properly. Farrah says her lack of sight is “all she has ever known” and describes her as a positive, clever girl whose knowledge is “like a filing cabinet”.
She said: “She was born blind but they didn’t find out until she was around six or seven months old. When the health visitor came she wasn’t focussing and they went for an eye test. She is so clever – I’ve never met a girl like her in my life. She’s good at Spanish. She is unreal. She does not let her blindness bother her in the slightest.” Laiyla, who also has autism and ADHD, loves doing make up and is an excellent storyteller, her step mum said.
“They love doing make up and skin care,” Farrah said. “That’s their favourite thing to do. Laiyla likes to pretend a lot. She has a fairytale in her head of how life is and she likes to pretend. She is very good at acting, doing different voices and a very good storyteller. She’ll pretend on her own and she’ll make a massive story in her head and it’s so fantastic, so detailed. She wants to make videos of herself telling stories for other blind children. She’s not scared of anything and has no fear whatsoever.”
Farrah previously took part in a skydive to raise money for charities that support people with blindness. She said: “I was scared to jump out of a plane, but can you imagine what she feels day in and day out? It was nothing compared to what she has to go through daily. It’s mad how an eight-year-old can inspire you.”
And now, it’s Aalijah’s turn to raise money for the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC). She plans to walk a mile a day for the whole month of September. On her fundraising page, which has already raised more than £500, Aalijah wrote: “I’m raising money to help support blind and partially sighted children and their families, so children like Laiyla can have the support, opportunities and confidence to live their lives to the fullest. I’m only 7, but I know one thing for sure. My sister may not be able to see the world, but she has shown me how to see it differently.”
Farrah and the girls’ dad, Scott, who also has a 12-year-old son, Kian, are helping Aalijah choose new places to walk each day. Farrah said: “Aalijah is brilliant and I would be lost without her sometimes. She’s just there and takes a lot of pressure off for you. I never thought I could love another child like you do your own children. I’ve been in their lives for nearly four years and it’s incredible to watch.
“She’s going to be walking all over. We’ve calculated on our map how far a mile is and picked out different locations. She asked if she can do biking, and I said ‘you can skip, dance, jog, walk, anything’. She’s absolutely buzzing about it and has been doing her exercises in the morning. She’s brilliant. This won’t be the last thing she does either.”
Donate to Aalijah’s fundraising page here.
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