Junior Kristen Dornenburg is a three-year starter at goalie for the Muhlenberg field hockey team and one of the progam’s all-time leaders in saves. But on Saturday, she and her teammates had a more important save in mind – trying to save her sister’s vision. Here’s their story, as told by Kristen:

My sister Gail is three years older than I am.  When we were younger, I always wanted to do things the same way she did. Luckily, when I was in second grade and she was in fifth, my eye doctor told me it was time to wear glasses, and because Gail was already wearing them I was so excited to be able to wear them too. 

As I got older, my vision worsened more than hers did, and I ended getting contacts before she did, which was also very exciting. It was like I had started my own trend. 

As we got older and Gail moved on to high school, her vision was finally catching up with mine. By her late high school years she had completely surpassed me and our eye doctor was starting to worry. In her freshman year of college, we began to find out that her vision would never again be 20/20, even with corrective lenses. At this point she was seeing around 20/40, which to anyone who has glasses or contacts would be the equivalent of having to squint at the board to be able to see clearly. 

As Gail’s vision worsened, my family started taking her to different eye professionals to see if they could diagnose exactly what was going on. For all these doctor’s appointments, Gail was missing classes and important freshman year experiences and decided to transfer from American University, almost three hours away from home, to Moravian College, just an hour away. 

Finally a doctor was able to tell her that they were almost 100% sure she had Stargardt Disease. This is a juvenile form of macular degeneration, a retinal degenerative disease that affects central vision, color vision and sensitivity to light.

Gail’s vision has gotten worse since her freshman year of college five years ago, and now with correction she can only see 20/200, meaning she is legally blind. Along with having to put books close to her face and sit inches from the TV screen, she is also no longer allowed to drive. This means getting to work or going to the mall, the grocery store or anywhere is a struggle and she has to be dependent on others.

In the past five years, Gail and my family have learned how to adapt to her disability and have reached out the blind and vision impaired community to find hope and answers for her future. The Foundation for Fighting Blindness works with eye professionals around the world to try to find cures and treatment for people with these impairments. They raise money to fund these programs and one of the ways they do it is Vision Walk, a walk just like any other fundraiser, except with the intent of curing blindness. 

For the past three years, my family has worked to put together a team to go to Vision Walk, and all three years we have had support from my field hockey team. Last year they weren’t able to go because we had a game the same day as the walk, and their presence was missed. This year we had a blast! Some people got their faces painted, others used the walk as a run for a workout, and we all ate real Philadelphia cheese steaks (which was a first for some).

Most of all, just knowing that my team cared enough about me and my family to come out and support us was the best part. Knowing that my family has the support of so many wonderful people gives us hope that people will continue to learn about her disease and come to these walks to build awareness.

For more about Vision Walk, click here: http://www.fightblindness.org/site/TR/VISIONWALK/VisionWalktr?fr_id=4220&pg=entry&AddInterest=1561

For Gail Dornenburg’s page, click here: http://www.fightblindness.org/site/TR/VISIONWALK/VisionWalktr/1123676329?px=1754941&pg=personal&fr_id=4220