Help Tori Fight to Save his Vision!

Tori McCormick has been one of my lifetime best friends.  Many of you know that Tori has been battling vision loss issues for several years.  Growing up, Tori had a passion for hunting and fishing and was able to convert that passion into a career as an outdoors writer.  He has written publicly and eloquently of how his growing vision loss has forced him to give up his hunting pastime.  In spite of past vision limitations, Tori was able to continue his career as a writer and many of you may have read his pieces in the Minneapolis Star Tribune; the Outdoor News publications in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; South Dakota Outdoors magazine, Pheasants Forever magazine and many other publications.

Sadly, in the last several months Tori has faced a new challenge with growing vision trouble with his one good eye.  After many treatments for cornea infections, Tori met with new doctors and was properly diagnosed with a condition called band keratopathy.  In basic terms, it's the build up of calcium deposits or salts on the surface of the cornea, which is the protective outer layer of the eye.  Because the cornea is described as being 350 times more sensitive than your skin, these deposits are essentially like small particles of glass in Tori's eye and the resulting pain is disabling.  In addition to the vision problems, the pain requires constant medication and Tori has had great difficulty sleeping or having a normal daily life.  The more he uses his eyes, the more pain he experiences and he has been told by his doctors to have no more than 15 minutes of continuous screen time.  He is currently being treated with eye drops and has had a special lense inserted in his eye to try and break up the deposits.  If there is no improvement in 2-3 weeks, he will be facing a surgical procedure to scrape the deposits away, a potential cornea transplant, or even complete removal of the eye.

For the last couple of years, Tori has been a freelance writer.  He has no employer-provided health insurance.  He has been unable to work for months as he cannot write or conduct the research or phone interviews that go along with putting together his well-written stories.  Having used up his own available funds, Tori has had the help of his Mom and Jeff, as well as his Church, to meet some of his on-going medical and day to day living expense needs.  However, Tori has reached the point where he needs help in order to focus his attention on the battle to save his vision without the constant worries about how his rent will be paid or how to pay for the next medical visit or prescription refill.

Anyone who knows Tori, knows that he is a proud, self-sufficient Irishman.  For Tori to ask for help and to agree to allow me to start this campaign speaks volumes about the challenges he is now facing.  There are a lot of causes in the world and everyone that gets asked to support a cause finds themselves in a different position financially from one week to the next.  To the extent you are able and willing, please consider contributing to this fund to help out our friend and family member, or the guy who writes the stories you have enjoyed over a cup of coffee. I set a target amount with a goal of raising enough money to cover Tori's medical and living expenses for about a 4 month period.  His medical challenges may extend over a longer time period but we can help give him the cushion he needs to mentally focus on his treatment for the next few months. I can tell you that the psychological challenges he is dealing with are every bit as difficult as the physical right now.

Thank you for considering a contribution!  P.S. - I apologize to Margaret for using a pic with you in it and from our last class reunion but you look terrific and it's the best pic of Tori I could find on short notice!