Hello Team Iker,

I am a teacher of the visually impaired and I want to share Iker's inspiring story with you. Iker is a very intelligent and kind child always does his best in school and has never once complained or refused to do his work. He is ready with a smile and always is kind to his fellow classmates and respectful to his teachers. Iker was diagnosed as a baby with retinopathy of prematurity caused by too much oxygen at during childbirth, so has been visually impaired since birth. Iker is a stellar student in spite of his visual impairment and attends classes with his sighted peers. He uses a very sophisticated enlarging system in his third grade class so he can see his work and he is learning braille too! In October Iker suffered a massive retinal detachment in his left eye which caused an immediate and nearly complete deterioration of vision in that eye. He was seen at St. Luke's Children's Hospital by Dr. Brooks then rushed to Utah's Children's Hospital where he received surgery which will hopefully will restore some of his sight. He has a follow up appointment in December.

Iker's mother is a loving mother who sacrifices everything for her child and works very hard. She has had to miss quite a bit of work during his recent hospital stay and throughout his many doctors appointments. She has sacrificed so much to pay for his many medications too working long hours at McDonalds. This fundraiser will help her to drive Iker to Utah for his post-op surgery. It will pay for food and gas. Funds will also be used to continue to pay his many medication bills and to help his mother with any missed wages. Please help this very deserving and hard working lovely young family as they struggle to adjust to Iker's vision loss. We are hoping and praying that it is stable and his surgery outcome will be good. Any donation would be appreciated and used wisely. All donations go directly to his mother and no one else has access to them at all through a secure log in only she will have. I deeply appreciate the many professionals whom I work with and their generosity towards this wonderful little man. Please feel free to forward the link to your family and friends and make sure this family does not face this situation alone and that this is a Christmas to remember!

Thank you and God bless!

Dr. Carol Scholz Teacher of the Visually Impaired Boise School District