Katharina Buczek
Corinne Romero has organized a GoFundMe for her friend Jackie Marie’s “fight for sight.”
At only eleven years old, Marie was diagnosed with Type One Juvenile Diabetes. Since then, Marie has overcome disease-related challenges each year. Then, in November of 2020, Marie woke up with no vision in her left eye.
“After a visit to the retina doctor, it was determined she had developed diabetic retinopathy in both of her eyes,” Romero wrote.
This unfortunate news could not have come at a more inopportune time. Marie had just been laid off from her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not have access to private healthcare.
So, the surgery was pushed back, and “in the meantime, the blood had cleared out of her central line of vision.”
Despite this challenge, Marie worked to earn her real estate license and began work in March. Still, her vision obstacles did not stop there.
“One day, while sitting at her desk, she lost vision in her other eye. After going to the doctor yet again, it was determined that she would need laser treatments every two weeks and shots in her eyes –– which amounted to over fifteen hundred dollars per treatment and six hundred dollars for the shots,” Romero said.
Marie’s family helped as much as they could and, after a few successful months in real estate, Marie decided to get health insurance. On July 18th, though, Marie lost vision in her right eye again.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Jackie Marie
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