Lorie & Ron Hirson with: Laura Bruursema, Marc Grossman, and Mathew Stromberg

Why Support the Cure for Blindness?

We all have a story and a cause we hold near and dear to our hearts for one reason or another. My (Lorie’s) cause chose me the summer of 1989 when I was diagnosed with an incurable, rare, degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Basically, my retinas are dying. It is a slow progressive disease and each year my sight becomes a little more constricted. In my case, the disease started with night blindness, but now also impacts my day vision. I have little to no peripheral vision, which means I view this world of ours through a tunnel (hence the term tunnel vision).

I am just one of more than 10 million Americans who suffer vision loss from Retinitis Pigmentosa, Usher Syndrome or Macular Degeneration, which are all incurable at this time.

Swimming from Alcatraz was on my bucket list and my husband and I decided to use this as an opportunity and platform to start our annual "Alcatraz Swim for Sight," which raises money to help eliminate eye disease and blindness worldwide.  This will be our 3rd annual swim and we have doubled the number of swimmers year to year, as well as our fundraising efforts. Our goal this year is to raise $100,000 with 100 swimmers.