Laurence Dollimore
A US surfing champion has flown her son ‘across the world’ to receive life-changing eye surgery in Spain.
Alana Blanchard, 34, from Hawaii, told her 1.6million Instagram followers how her young son Koda was born with a condition called Ptosis.
Ptosis causes one or both eyelids to droop, hence the condition’s more common name of ‘droopy eyelid’.
She revealed on Monday that she, Koda, her husband and other son travelled to Malaga for corrective surgery on the little boy’s right eye.
In a video uploaded to Instagram, the surfer is seen strolling around Malaga with her two sons before taking Koda to see leading expert Ramon Medel Jimenez.
She wrote alongside the video: “My son was born with an eye condition called ptosis, making it so one of his eyes wouldn’t open all the way.
“We went to a few doctors and they said there was nothing they could do.
“And although we thought he was the cutest little guy, we finally found a specialist that worked with kids.
“So we flew across the world to Spain to get corrective surgery with Dr Medel.”
She added: “Waiting for surgery, we felt every emotion, and it was so hard seeing him go.
“It was hard but Koda did so good and the bandages came off the next day.
“He was very swollen and it was a hard few days and sleepless nights, but seeing his eyes so open and symmetrical makes it all worth it… we are so happy we found Dr Medel.”
