Vic’s Story
Vic, age 75, had 20/20 vision until 2016, when he started having trouble seeing out of his left eye when driving at night. Vic’s sight progressively deteriorated overtime and eventually affected both eyes. Now, he can no longer drive. Sending text messages/emails is extremely difficult. He cannot read books without audio play.
Vic was diagnosed with dry AMD by his doctor. He was told that he could lose most of his vision in both eyes and there was nothing doctors could do for him due to the lack of approved treatments. After four and a half years of gradual vision loss, Vic is now legally blind. Nearly every part of Vic’s life has changed.
“It takes 10 minutes to send an email that would have taken me 30 seconds a couple of years ago. I used to enjoy cooking, and now I struggle to judge the width of anything, making it difficult to cut things. I struggle to recognise faces now unless there is bright light.”
Vic’s dry AMD has not caused total blindness, but it has put a black hole in the centre of his vision, so he can not see detail. As time progresses, his vision will continue to worsen. This has forced him to become much more dependent on other people, which he says has been one of the hardest parts of his vision loss. He relies on others for simple tasks that people often take for granted, such as driving and reading documents and books.
Vic joined the Macular Society, a U.K.-based patient group devoted to finding research and providing support to people with AMD and other macular conditions.
“This is a terrible disease and it’s the single largest cause of blindness in the western world. It’s causing untold misery. It’s a disease that needs to be conquered if humanly possible.”
