Little body, big heart

BEREA MAIL followed up with the fi ve-year-old Morningside resident, Lily Bowes, who went viral in 2021 when a video of her inserting her prosthetic eye all by herself received massive amounts of attention on the Northglen News YouTube channel. Little Lily Bowes was born with persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV), a condition that affected her eye.

“It’s a congenital anomaly. There is only a 2% chance of being born with this condition. She needed to have a surgery done when she was one month old. It was a very scary time for us. Unfortunately, after surgery, Lily had retinal detachment and had to have more surgery done. We were told she would have a blind eye and would need a prosthetic eye,” explained her mom, Sheri-Leigh BaillacheBowes.

Luckily, Lily has a great amount of support and love around her, and according to her mother and teacher, she is excelling in and outside of the
classroom. “I do gymnastics, and I also do karate, netball, dancing and ballet. I also play the violin and I am in a swimming team. My favourite
one of all is karate.”

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Lily is part of the Glenwood Gymnastics Club, and at the young age of five, she had already received gold and silver medals for her stellar performance in local competitions. “She has been doing really well in gymnastics and competed in competitions this year and last year, achieving an 8.1 out of 10 in various categories,” said Baillache-Bowes.

Baillache-Bowes says her daughter amazes her every day. “We have an amazing support structure around us, and her brother is an excellent older brother – very empathetic towards her and very protective, as well. I never expected such an amazing reaction from the viral video. She really takes everything that comes with life with a prosthetic eye in her stride – she embraces it fully, and it’s a beautiful part of who she is.”

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Lily’s Grade R teacher, Jamie Dunbar, says Lily is a joy to have in the classroom. “In the short space of time that I have known Lily, I can say that she is an extremely empathetic and helpful child – she is always looking out for others. She’s confident in approaching new friends, she’s always the first child to cheer another learner up and she’s very perceptive – if she sees anyone is feeling a bit sad, she’ll ask to play with them.

Five-year-old Lily says she’s happy that her video helped and inspired other children with prosthetic eyes, and she plans to keep thriving and excelling in sports and school.

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