The Happy Pod: 'Life changing' treatment restored my daughter's vision
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 May 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Six-year-old Saffie would have gone completely blind by adulthood, if not for a groundbreaking gene therapy. Her mother says she is now "thriving" and the results have been "incredible". Saffie was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK.
Also, the woman in Ethiopia who has given birth to quintuplets. Bedriya Adem had been trying to conceive for 12 years. She says her five babies are a 'blessing'. Plus, the beloved natural history presenter, David Attenborough turns 100. Why childhood musicians make better surgeons; the human choir singing with whales; and find out how four grandmothers become friends with a professional wrestler in Las Vegas.
Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.
Presenter: Holly Gibbs. Music composed by Iona Hampson
Image credit: PA
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the happy pod from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:13.3 | I'm Holly Gibbs and in this edition. |
| 0:18.0 | I could never in a million years have imagined results like this. We were able |
| 0:22.9 | to get trick or treat in last October and she was running down the path in the dark shouting, |
| 0:26.8 | I can see. And we were just in floods of tears. The six-year-old girl who can see again, |
| 0:31.4 | thanks to a groundbreaking gene therapy treatment. Also on this podcast, the woman in Ethiopia who has given birth to |
| 0:39.1 | Quinn Tuplets, the globally renowned environmentalist, David Attenborough, turns 100. |
| 0:45.4 | He's an inspiration and he's adored by all the different generations. I don't think |
| 0:51.1 | there's anybody that doesn't like David. |
| 0:57.9 | Plus, why childhood musicians make better surgeons? |
| 1:02.0 | It looks like musical instrument training has helped our students to acquire surgical skills quicker and better. |
| 1:05.5 | And there were all these men, they had beards down to their bellies, |
| 1:08.7 | they were like elderly, with caps and baggy trousers. |
| 1:11.7 | And there was us all dogs up like sex in the city walking in. |
| 1:15.2 | Find out how four grandmothers befriended a pro wrestler. |
| 1:22.7 | We start with a six-year-old girl who has had a life-changing treatment to restore her sight. |
| 1:29.0 | Safi Sanford was born with a rare inherited condition, and without treatment, she could have become |
| 1:34.1 | blind by adulthood. But thanks to a one-off gene therapy, Safi has had almost all of her |
| 1:40.4 | vision back. Here's the moment she could see in the dark after the operation, much to the |
| 1:45.9 | delight of her parents. What else can you see? Cotons and my tree over there. What about, if |
| 1:55.1 | Mommy comes closer, can you see Mommy's face? Yeah. Tell me some. Mommy's whole face. What about, what about now? Can you see Mommy's face? Yes. Tell me some... Mommy's whole face. What about now? Can you see Mommy's face? No. You can't see Mommy's face at all? No. You've got a spider vision in your new eye. You've got a spider vision. What else can you see, Mom? Um... Can you see my face? My colleague Emma Barnett spoke to Safi's mum Lisa |
| 2:18.4 | and to Rob Henderson, the consultant who treated Safi. |
... |
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