Legoland Windsor Resort gives brothers a life-changing experience

Legoland Windsor Resort provided eyewear technology eSight to London brothers Lucca and Sonny Oxenham, which allowed them to fully experience the new Magical Forest attraction despite their rare eye condition.

Lucca, age 14, and Sonny, age 11, suffer from a rare condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, which will, in time, cause them to lose most of their central vision. On May 12, 2022, they were the first children in the United Kingdom to use eSight devices to fully enjoy the newly opened Magical Forest area of the park.

The brothers, who are Lego fans, have around 15-20% of their central vision, and use peripheral vision to navigate everyday life. Using eSight, their central vision was enhanced so that they could see the life-sized Lego creature models in the Magical Forest, which took Model Makers 452 hours to create using more than 80,000 Lego bricks.

The boys entered the woodland through a swirling vortex of lights, and through the use of Augmented Reality (AR) on their smartphones, they watched as Lego creatures came to life.

“It was such an emotional moment for all of the family to watch Lucca and Sonny see Legoland fully for the first time in their lives,” said their mother, Daniella Zanelli. “They visited when they were younger, but this was a whole new experience, and they loved meeting the creatures in the Magical Forest. As their mum, I’m so thankful that the eSight devices provided an opportunity for them to enjoy and experience things they love like any other teenage boy.”

Lucca and Sonny, who were born with the rare condition, are taking part in eSight trials through a partnership with Royal Society for the Blind Children. eSight International’s goal is to make the wearable device available to children with more than 20 conditions, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and Stargardt disease.

“eSight is a life changing technology helping low vision people to enhance and improve daily life, impacting over 3,500 people around the world,” said Gregory Ogorek, COO and president of eSight International. “We are excited to be partnering with Legoland to provide Sonny and Lucca with a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Helen Bull, divisional director at Legoland Windsor Resort, said, “We were thrilled to partner with eSight to welcome Lucca and Sonny to our new Magical Forest attraction for what was a life-changing experience for them and their family. We hope the brothers left feeling inspired by their visit and continue to make magical memories with their family thanks to this amazing new technology.”

Day tickets to Legoland Windsor Resort start at £32 ($39.24) per person. Children under 90cm/35in visit for free.

For more information visit Legoland.co.uk.