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Privacy Notice Comedian Chris McCausland has opened up about the uncertainty surrounding his daughter’s health, as he and his wife face the possibility that she may inherit the condition that caused blindness in his family. The 47 year old funnyman, who is currently showing off his dance moves on Strictly Come Dancing with pro Dianne Buswell, shared his concerns on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast. Chris discussed the challenges of diagnosing retinitis pigmentosa, the condition affecting him, and the lack of a definitive test for his daughter. He explained to Gyles: “If the genome was a map of the United Kingdom, they think my problem is maybe somewhere in south west London but they haven’t narrowed it down to a specific gene yet.” He added, “But it meant that when my daughter was born we wanted to know whether she would have it and of course, there’s just no test there’s nothing.”
Chris McCausland
(Image: PA)
Chris also reflected on the advancements in testing, noting, “The analogue tests they do now are a lot more technological, they can check the electrical signals of the optic nerve as you’re looking at things and see whether it’s as strong as it should be and all these kinds of things, but nothing definitive. It’s all just wait and see.” Recalling his own childhood, Chris mentioned the limited technology back then, saying, “When I was a kid this is how primitive it was, they even gave me glasses at one point. Glasses don’t do anything. “Even to this day they still can’t test the gene and I took part in that 100k genome project where they map the genome of all known diseases and genetic defects and I got the all clear.” In recent months, Chris has been candid about his experiences with blindness, discussing the effects it has had on him both currently and in the past. On chatting with Gyles, Chris reflected that assigning a precise time to when he lost his sight is tricky, expressing, “because you stop being able to do different things at different stages of life, but I would say late teens early 20s”. In his Channel 4 programme The Wonders of the World I Can’t See, he confessed to being less than thrilled by travel as he stated: “What’s the point going all that way to stand in front of the thing that everyone is looking at, but that I can’t see? “.
Chris McCausland
(Image: BBC)
Nevertheless, Chris has revealed a shift in his self-perception over time, now embracing more acceptance as he noted: “Don’t get me wrong. I’m much more accepting of who I am these days I’ve stopped having tantrums every time I spill drinks or bang my head on the door frame.” And despite living with his condition, Chris remains open to hope for the future, musing: “But a miracle to cure my blindness completely? Yeah, I’d consider that.” With the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing underway, viewers have quickly shown their love for the duo of Chris and Dianne, aged 35. One enthusiast, covered by the Liverpool Echo, enthused: “I can’t cope with Chris and Dianne. They’re my winners”. Another admirer shared celebrations for the dancing couple: “I’m in awe of Chris and Dianne they just are dynamite together. They are already my winners regardless of how far they go in the competition”.Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterMore OnStrictly Come Dancing
