LIKE many little girls, little Ruby Bridgeman is frightened of the dark.

However for Ruby, it is a fear she has to face daily because her incurable eye condition can make her world black at any moment.

But the inspirational schoolgirl is determined to not let her disability hold her back.

Ruby suffers from optic nerve hypoplasia, causing the underdevelopment of the optic nerves and nystagmus which causes her eyes to constantly flicker.

It means Ruby is partially sighted, uses a white cane and specialist equipment at school and when she is tired, she can only see blurry images.

Her family organised a special event at the weekend to help raise money for new research into the rare condition.

Ruby, said: “My eyes make me feel very wobbly. They move up and down all the time. I can’t balance because they distract me!

“When my eyes move up and down really really fast, it goes all fuzzy and I can’t really see where I’m going. All I can see is pink or blue stuff.

“When it’s dark and everything goes blurry it frightens me. It’s like a ghost is coming in the house.”

Her parents Amy, a sales assistant, and Richard, a delivery driver, discovered there was something wrong with their daughter when she was a new born baby. They noticed she was sleeping a lot, her eyes were moving involuntarily and she had difficulty focusing.

Mum-of-two, Amy, 24, from Broadstone, said: “We noticed her eyes moved very rapidly from side to side. The health visitor picked up on it and after a few months, we noticed she wasn’t focusing on anything so we had to go and see doctors and specialists.”

When Ruby was six months old, the family were referred to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London where she received the diagnosis.

The youngster was given glasses and her parents had to get specialist toys and were given activities to help strengthen her eyes.

Ruby has a specialist mobility worker who visits her school at Broadstone First School where she has specialist equipment to help her in lessons.

Amy, said: “The school are amazing and so are her friends.

"The condition is incurable but we were last told if stem cell research comes on a lot more, maybe we would be able to do something but that could be in years time.

“Everyone we have spoken to said her eyesight won’t get worse but that isn’t a guarantee.

“At the moment, we have to do everything we can to strengthen her eyes and get her to try to focus on things just a little longer, which is difficult for her but we want to do everything we can.

“Ruby is amazing. She never complains about anything. We are very proud of her.

“She is braver than most adults I know.”

For more information about nystagmus go to in-vision.org.uk

To support Ruby and her family go to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/victoriawyness1