When Darrah O’Sullivan and her fiancé Vince Greenaway welcomed their twin daughters, Maeve and Orla, into the world on April 8, 2024, they believed everything was as expected.
However, within hours of their birth at 36 weeks, a pediatrician noticed that Maeve had yet to open her eyes. What seemed like a minor delay soon led to a life-changing diagnosis: bilateral anophthalmia, a rare condition where a baby is born without eyes.
According to the NHS, this condition affects roughly one in 100,000 births. For Darrah and Vince, the news was both shocking and overwhelming.
“It was the best and the worst week of our lives wrapped up into one,” Darrah recalled. An MRI scan performed when Maeve was just five days old confirmed that she had no other underlying health issues. Despite the initial uncertainty, the couple embraced their new reality with resilience and positivity.
Today, at 10 months old, Maeve is thriving. She has been fitted with conformers, small plastic shells that assist in the development of her eye sockets. Eventually, she will receive prosthetic eyes, matched in color to her twin sister Orla’s blue eyes. “Maeve is the most beautiful, happy, thriving little girl… so what if she can’t see?” Darrah said. “She experiences the world differently, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.”
Determined to make Maeve’s blindness a normal part of their family’s life, Darrah and Vince have committed to learning braille alongside their daughter. They have also received support from organizations like Guide Dogs and Macs, a charity supporting individuals with microphthalmia, anophthalmia, and coloboma. “There’s been a huge learning curve,” Vince admitted. “Before Maeve, we had never heard of bilateral anophthalmia, and most people haven’t either.”
As Maeve grows, she is being guided by three specialists who help her with mobility and tactile learning. Teaching her to crawl and explore the world without vision requires alternative methods, but her parents remain confident in her abilities. “We don’t want her to ever feel like her condition will stop her from doing anything,” Darrah emphasized.
To raise awareness and funds for Macs, Vince, along with Darrah’s sisters Maddie and Chloe, will be running the 2025 London Marathon on April 27. The idea came during an emotional moment shortly after Maeve’s birth.
“We saw the London Marathon on TV and thought, ‘Why not do something meaningful?’” Vince said. Since then, the trio has raised over $12,500 for the charity. Vince trains rigorously, waking up at 5 a.m. to run before heading to work.
“It’ll be such a huge achievement,” he said. “More than anything, we just want to spread awareness and show that being blind doesn’t mean being limited.”
Maeve’s journey has already touched many lives, inspiring conversations about inclusivity and accessibility. As her family continues to learn and adapt, they hope to foster greater understanding of anophthalmia and the potential of those living without sight. “Her specific condition is rare, but blindness isn’t,” Darrah noted. “There are so many resources out there to help a blind person navigate the world. We feel confident that Maeve will do just that.”
