Being told their baby was blind was a shock for parents Irene and Jonathan, but the last thing they expected was for it to lead to a diagnosis of kidney cancer.

Every parent knows the joy of their firstborn hitting milestones, like walking and talking– but for Lucy and Peter it is something they may never experience.

When it comes to medical research – no one is more hopeful than the mother of a child with cystic fibrosis.

There is nothing quite as powerful to a parent as their child’s smile, but after Emilia was born, her mother Mary rarely saw a smile or eye contact.

When her only child was diagnosed with a genetic eye condition, mum Anita described the emotions as like “going through the stage of grief, watching your blind child grow up in a sighted world’’.