thanks to donations, Adrien, suffering from a degenerative vision disease, regains hope

He is one of the faces of the 35th edition of the Telethon, which begins on Friday December 3. Adrien is 40 years old and has degenerative vision disease. She was diagnosed at the age of 17. No treatment was then possible. “Today I need a cane all the time, he says. My eyesight slows me down in many activities of daily living. “ Adrien had to stop the scooter first, then the bike, also table tennis, tennis.

“It’s really two years ago that the pathology became very ‘impacting’ in my daily life.”

Adrien, suffering from degenerative vision disease

to franceinfo

The pathology he suffers from is called retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive loss of vision with the very real risk of going blind. “I see a little as in a straw with a rather thick fog in front of the eyes, describes Adrien. I have an eye that works a little better, the right eye, which still allows me to read and in particular thanks to digital tools, by reversing the contrasts, by enlarging a little. “

In recent years, this physiotherapist has regained hope thanks to the technology developed by researcher Christelle Monville, specializing in retinal diseases. With her teams, she has developed “a small patch of cells that we graft into this central area of ​​the retina.” The first trial of cell therapy in retinitis pigmentosa began, a treatment developed by the l-Stem laboratory, in collaboration with the Institut de la Vision. “This is not a test in which we will regain sight, but really the idea is to stop the progression of the disease”, explains Christelle Monville.

“If I had been offered it 25 years ago, I would have experienced it as a miracle.”

Adrien, suffering from degenerative vision disease

to franceinfo

Among the 12 patients participating in this trial, we find Adrien, operated on last February. Since his operation, he claims not to have “felt to compensate” in the course of his disease. “I have the impression of seeing the same thing in the left eye, the one that was operated on, as nine months ago when I had the operation, he rejoices. And I believe that tomorrow this technology will be administered to patients who are experiencing the onset of symptoms and who, I hope, will never experience the degradation as I have experienced. “

This cell patch, still in the clinical trial stage, must be grafted onto other patients. Adrien will be followed for another five years to assess the development of the system.

To donate to the Telethon, you can dial 36 37.