Kappa Delta to support sister at VisionWalk

When Kappa Delta junior Amanda Ziemba was a little girl, she thought nobody could see the blackboards at school from far away. She said she decided to see a doctor when it gave her “troubles” in high school.\n“They tried contacts on me,” Ziemba said. “But it just wasn’t helping.”\nHer optometrist sent her to a specialist at the Midwest Eye Clinic, where she was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease.\nStargardt’s Disease is a type of juvenile macular degeneration. This disease causes a progressive loss of central vision, Ziemba said. \n“I didn’t think much of (the diagnosis),” Ziemba said. “It didn’t hit me for a while. It took me a while to kind of realize how severe it was.”\nAbout 50 Kappa Delta girls signed up to travel to Indianapolis on Sunday to participate in VisionWalk, a national walk-a-thon sponsored by the Foundation Fighting Blindness to combat retinol degenerative diseases. The girls want to support their sorority sister, Ziemba, and raise awareness for her rare disease. \nZiemba said seeing her family’s reaction made the situation more pressing for her.\n“I think it affected my family more than me,” she said. “I had never seen my dad cry before – I had never seen my family so upset.”\nZiemba said since her family has been so involved, it came as no surprise when they suggested she and her sorority should participate in VisionWalk.\nFoundation Fighting Blindness Events Assistant Steve Sorka said the organization holds walks all over the country and that last year the walks raised more than $1.3 million for research to prevent and find cures for diseases like Stargardt’s.\nZiemba said she introduced the walk as a philanthropy idea for Kappa Delta at a chapter meeting. She explained the effects her vision impairment has – such as having to get note takers for her classes and having to wear special glasses called bioptics when she drives.\nKappa Delta sophomore Lauren Murphy said Ziemba’s presentation persuaded her to attend the walk.\n“I thought that it would be a fun opportunity for something that was really important to (Ziemba),” Murphy said. “It shows that everyone in the house really cares about her and her problems.”\nAlthough direct sunlight could worsen her vision, Ziemba said she will never be fully blind. She said she wanted to do the walk to help find cures for other people with vision problems.\n“I really wanted to do it for my family,” Ziemba said. “And I also wanted to support the other people in the walk who are blind or have other retinal diseases. Hopefully other people will be more aware of (degenerative retinal diseases) and (will) help find a cure.”