Fundraising for Medical Research

Ms Kerrie Anderson

Head of Prep Art

Oscar Eckersley Year 5, was recently asked by the Queensland Eye Institute to create an artwork to fundraise for medical research.

Enduring over 15 operations by the age of five to control his congenital glaucoma, Oscar's painting on canvas: 'Christmas Poinsettias' will go to raise funds for a variety of conditions including his own. Oscar worked for a week in the Art Centre with assistance from his mate Mac to produce this stunning artwork.

Queensland Eye Institute Foundation shared his story of endurance at such a tender age. When diagnosed, Oscar was given two options from his ophthalmologist Dr Chiang. One was a trabeculectomy – which would have meant that Oscar would never swim or he'd be unable to enjoy contact sports and would live with a life-long risk of infection in the eye, or he could receive a Baerveldt tube implant. When Dr Chiang talked through the two options, Oscar's parents instantly agreed to go with the implant and asked if he could do it tomorrow. Dr Chiang was surprised and a little shocked by how quickly they responded and said to them both, “You know I am cutting your son's eye open?” Within a year, Oscar had undergone two glaucoma implant surgeries and a four-hour emergency surgery to save his eye using donated corneal tissue.

In 2016 Oscar finally started school and has loved it ever since. “I cried tears of joy on the first day as he was so excited to start school after spending a lot of time at home with me as he wasn't allowed to go to Kindergarten and Preschool due to his eye surgeries,” says Oscar’s Mum, Melissa. When Oscar has to go for an eye appointment from the Gold Coast to Brisbane during school time, he always reminds Dr Chiang that he is, “interrupting his education”!

To the family's delight Oscar has recently started playing soccer, a sport he had previously been too worried to play in case he caused damage to his eye.

Unfortunately, there is still a long road ahead. In 2018 Dr Chiang told Oscar and Melissa that Oscar has sadly developed a cataract in his glaucoma affected eye and surgery will only take place if the cataract worsens. “We are stuck in limbo,” says Melissa. Due to the complexity of the surgery, it is likely to affect Oscar's eye pressure levels. The vision in his left eye has dramatically reduced from the cataract. Oscar is currently having to patch his good eye for two hours each day to keep the connectors between his bad eye and the brain open, in the hope that when the cataract is removed, Dr Chiang will be able to claw back some vision. Oscar will likely need high doses of steroids as his eye has become inflamed post-surgery, however, the steroids increase the pressure in his glaucoma affected eye. “It's a doubleedged sword now,” says Melissa.

As part of his recovery process, Oscar has developed extraordinary skill and creativity when painting and drawing. His artwork is admired by all his peers and is at a standard to rival secondary school student artists. He is a regular visitor to the art studio in lunch hours and his eye hand coordination is second to none.