Arizona Featured Volunteer

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Judy Hauger

Our daughter, Ashley, was diagnosed with RP/Usher Syndrome 3 years ago, at the age of 25.  Since that diagnosis, every imagined emotion has surfaced and resurfaced time & time again. As a Mother, I want to "fix" things for my children but I finally realized I had encountered something I cannot even try to fix.
After many sleepless evenings, I realized I couldn’t make Ashley’s sight better, but there was something I could do. I could bring awareness to this retinal disease and spread the word to let people know that without research for preventions and cures, Ashley, and so many others, will lose their sight and possibly their hearing.
My goal this year was to join the Arizona VisionWalk 2010 and gather a few friends and family members to join me. I sent out a personal letter, telling our story about Ashley – our struggles, challenges, and the hope we have with Foundation Fighting Blindness. That's it.  No solicitations to major corporations or stopping people in the street.  I wanted to make the first year a personal year, with friends & immediate family joining us, as they have all been such a big part of our fight.  By the day of the race, we had 119 people on Team Ashley – it was amazing!  I'm very proud to say that we far exceeded our goal in number of people, personal donations, and raising awareness that while we can’t fix these diseases right now, that Individual’s do make a difference!