Seven-year-old Vivian did not know she had a vision problem—after all, how could she? Thankfully, a Lions KidSight USA vision screening caught her problem in time.
THANK YOU for giving my daughter a better quality of life because of your foundation’s kindness and concern for the wellbeing of our children!
With 46,000 clubs spanning the globe, Lions International is the world’s largest service organization, with Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) as the mighty force behind it. Its members—more than 1.4 million of them—do whatever is needed to help their communities. And the people in these communities are grateful. In our gratitude blog series, we’re excited to share the stories of our Lions and the lives they’ve touched. This is Vivian’s story.
A discovery thanks to KidSight USA
Naugatuck, Connecticut’s local Lions club sponsored a free vision screening—KidSight USA—at Salem Elementary. During the routine screening, Lions volunteers discovered an issue in seven-year-old Vivian’s vision that was previously undetected. Vivian had never complained of poor eyesight, and it hadn’t affected her schoolwork or playtime.
Upon receiving the Lions’ findings, Vivian’s mother, Sarah, took her daughter for a professional eye exam. Her daughter was diagnosed with refractive amblyopia, sometimes known as “lazy eye.”
Refractive amblyopia is caused by one eye having significant uncorrected near- or farsightedness, or a substantial astigmatism. Because the other eye does not have these issues, the brain relies solely on the “good” eye and filters out the afflicted eye’s unclear vision. As a result, the afflicted eye becomes “lazy” from disuse. If left uncorrected, amblyopia can lead to permanently reduced vision.
I can see clearly now
Vivian’s vision was easily corrected with prescription eyeglasses. Now aware of the issue, her eye doctor will continue to monitor Vivian’s eye health through regular checkups.
“I’m writing as a tremendously grateful parent! Without your foundation and the Connecticut Eye Research Foundation, my daughter's diagnosis would not have been determined. She has since seen an eye doctor and will get the necessary treatment to improve her impaired vision. THANK YOU for giving my daughter a better quality of life because of your foundation’s kindness and concern for the wellbeing of our children! Gratefully and Respectfully, Sarah Cyr”
Sight is precious. Every year, LCIF empowers Lions to help hundreds of thousands of people worldwide identify and address vision issues.
Visit lcif.org/campaign100 to learn how Campaign 100 will lead the charge to rid the world of infectious blindness, reduce avoidable blindness and visual impairment, and improve overall quality of life by providing services to those with blindness or visual impairment.
Jamie Konigsfeld is the marketing content specialist at Lions Clubs International Foundation.
