I am happy to announce that I had my eye surgery successfully completed on May 26, 2025.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to every single donor, my life has been immeasurably changed by your generosity. I never imagined this could actually happen. Your kindness will stay with me forever.
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I dont imagine this will be seen again, but I would like to thank everyone again for their support. Everything is so much better I cry thinking about it, and how I'd still be stuck how I was without the help. Thank you all.
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Hi, I'm Catherine, and I don't see very well. Even with glasses, my vision is so poor that I'm legally unable to drive. This poor vision is extremely detrimental to my quality of life beyond just being unable to drive; even with my glasses, I'm only able to see about three meters (10 feet) in front of me, making public transit unusable without assistance from friends or family.
I work by stocking shelves overnight, 5 days a week, from 10pm-6:30am. To get there I have to walk 3km (2 miles), alone, every night in freezing temperatures and then walk another 3km back. Contact lenses don't work for me, and my glasses are only able to correct my vision out to three meters. Without my glasses, I'm near completely blind, as everything is an indistinguishable blur.
Corrective surgery is the only long-term solution for helping to further improve my sight. The Herzig Eye Institute of Toronto has stated that Intraocular Collamer Lens (ICL) is the procedure that I qualify for, with a $9000+ CAD quote (almost $6,500 USD)
With my job I'm only able to save 250-500$ a month, best case scenario, without any incidental expenses. My surgery also doesn't qualify for coverage under the Ontario Disability Support Program, and because I work, I'm not able to receive money on a monthly basis either. Even if I was, because I don't have a family doctor/GP due to the extremely long waitlists in my province, I wouldn't be able to get the paperwork filled to apply for disability support regardless.
Any amount you're able to donate would be extremely helpful to me. If I'm able to get this surgery my quality of life would improve dramatically and immediately; I'd be able to travel further distances, work better-paying jobs, have more opportunities educationally and otherwise, and be independent of others when doing more complex tasks involving vision. God bless, and thank you for reading this.

