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17th Nov 2018

WATCH: This 14-year-old speaking about her rare eye condition on The Late Late Show is extremely brave

Rudi Kinsella

Late Late Show

There was a lot of love for how bravely she discussed her condition.

Victoria Smurfit appeared on The Late Late Show on Friday night alongside her 14-year-old daughter Evie.

Evie was on the couch to discuss her rare degenerative eye condition, macular dystrophy.

As she herself described it, the condition is: “A rare genetic eye condition that basically means my retina cells deteriorate. It basically means that my focus is getting less sharp.”

When asked by Ryan Tubridy what she’s able to see, she describes it as: “It feels like yellow fireworks exploding everywhere. Like fairy lights draping in front of my place and I have to look through them.”

Unfortunately, she says that people are quick to suggest that she’s overreacting because she’s a teenager, or because her mother’s an actress, saying: “People are quite insensitive. I think if they had the chance to see through my eyes, then they would really understand.”

She sadly points out that her eye-sight is deteriorating every day, and that she knows that her “eyesight will never be as good as it is right now.”

She also described a Superhero she came up with at the age of 11, who is able to shoot fireworks from her eyes.

Watch the clip of her talking below. It’s a really tough watch, but it’s worth it just to see how bravely she discusses such a serious issue:

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