OUR STORY

Where The Journey Begins

In late July of 2020, our youngest son, Pierce, began showing signs of vision loss.  On July 30, 2020, after several visits with eye doctors, pediatricians and retina specialists it was determined through MRI that Pierce had a tumor on his brain and spine.  We found out shortly afterward that his tumor was a form of cancer called Medulloblastoma.  The tumor in his brain closed off the flow of cerebral fluids, which caused the fluid to build up in his brain, thereby placing pressure on his optic nerve.

Following a lengthy tumor resection surgery, we waited for the healing to begin and for Pierce's sight to return to normal.  Several weeks later we were told the damage Pierce's optic nerve had suffered was irreparable and his vision would never return.  This diagnosis spurred us to not just fight the cancer, but to take every action necessary to give our son the best chance at regaining his sight.

When the discouraging news kept coming, and the resounding response from each doctor was "we need more research" or "there is not enough funding" we felt we had a duty to do more.  We knew we needed to find a way to fund the research required to give our son the possibility of one day seeing our faces again.  A goal to raise funds for the most cutting-edge research in optic nerve treatment and regeneration took root.

Our mistake in all of this was praying that we could realize the dream of Pierce seeing our faces again in our lifetime.  Never did we imagine it would be Pierce's lifetime that would mark the end of our own singular goal at the start of this journey.  We wholeheartedly believe that Pierce can now see us all, from wherever he may be, and while we did not achieve our mission within his lifetime, we know the most loving way to honor Pierce is to continue this work for others.  Our greatest hope is to bring the gift of sight to children who live with vision loss and Pierce the Darkness on childhood blindness.