Northampton mum applauds Michael Owen for sight loss interview

Katie Berrill's two sons have had to get used to their mother's deteriorating eyesight

A mother who has a rare disease that takes away eyesight has described former footballer Michael Owen's decision to talk about it in a podcast as "brilliant".

Katie Berrill, from Northampton, was diagnosed with Stargardt disease at 32.

Owen's son James, who also has the disease, is clinically blind at 17.

The former Liverpool and England striker told the BBC's Access All podcast he was desperate to help James see again.

Michael and James Owen appeared on the BBC Access All podcast

When Katie Berrill, who has two children, was told she had Stargardt disease, she had to come to terms with the knowledge that she would go blind and there was no treatment or cure.

Her optician noticed dark patches at the back of her eyes and sent her to the hospital, where the diagnosis was confirmed.

The only real symptom she had had at the time was problems with driving at night and car lights having a "halo" around them.

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Five years on, she still has good peripheral vision but her central vision is blurry with some patches missing altogether.

She said: "I can't recognise family members, so it's faces I struggle with - fine detail, that's why I can't drive.

"Reading's really difficult for me."

She believed the disease was already active when she was a child but was only spotted much later.

Katie Berrill's husband has been supporting her on her Stargardt journey

Ms Berrill added: "It's brilliant that a celebrity is actually speaking out about it because it's raising awareness.

"In the podcast, James was saying that you wouldn't know he had a visual impairment and that's the same with me.

"You could be walking through the streets and there could be so many people with a visual impairment that you don't realise have one, so I think people speaking out about it, it helps [people understand] that there isn't a specific look of sight loss."

Since her diagnosis, Ms Berrill has done plenty of work herself to raise awareness, with a blog, a Facebook support group and an Instagram page.