Hello, everyone - my name is Eileen Kurucz, and I am setting up this fundraiser to support my son Jim in his quest to regain the vision he is losing due to a condition called Keratoconus.

Most of you know that Jim has struggled with a multitude of medical issues and physical limitations his entire life, but has somehow always managed to adapt to his challenges and succeed beyond everyone’s expectations. He has dealt with dozens of medical procedures and surgeries during his lifetime and has always been able to maintain his optimism, his cheerfulness, and primarily his faith to help him deal with his struggles. He is absolutely a true inspiration to all who have had the honor to meet him.

His current vision issues have been getting worse over the past few years. Jim had attempted to find a corneal specialist anywhere in our area who would address his condition. However, with Jim’s physical limitations, he is not able to manage hard contact lenses (which is the treatment of choice for this condition) and he could not find an eye specialist who would work with him without attempting the lenses first. He was finally able to locate a world-renowned specialist in Jacksonville, Florida, who agreed to take him on. He and his dad Pete headed down to Florida last December for the first attempt at a procedure to correct the corneal defect, but when they arrived, the doctor felt that Jim’s vision had deteriorated past the point where the scheduled procedure would be beneficial. They re-scheduled for a more extensive procedure in February, but that also was determined to not be a good solution. The doctor finally decided to attempt a partial lens implant combined with a laser procedure, which will require general anesthesia.

In the past, the majority of his medical expenses have been covered by our family military medical insurance, but since he began supporting himself, he has been primarily paying for all of his medical costs, including his equipment (wheelchairs, adapted vehicles, etc) out of his own pocket. Jim just found out that the cost of this procedure will not be covered by either his vision or his medical insurance. He had initially planned to pay for the procedure with a personal loan, but now that the procedures have become more extensive, the cost is becoming prohibitive.

People have asked us since he was a child what they could do to help, and we have not really had the need to ask for funds to assist with his medical expenses. Now, however, there is a definite need – in addition to the cost of the surgery and the anesthesia, there will be thousands of dollars of expenses for travel, hotels, and meals during the 3-4 trips down to Florida for his procedures. Any help you are willing to extend will be gratefully appreciated, but most of all we would appreciate your prayers that this surgery will be successful in restoring at least some of his vision.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!