Oswego Woman with Rare Eye Disorder in Need of $15K Glasses

OSWEGO, IL — Imagine being told you’re losing your eyesight and will likely be blind by the time you’re 16. Imagine beating those odds, only to have your vision slowly deteriorate over the years as everything you loved to do moves out of reach. Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it? But for one Oswego woman, that nightmare is a reality.

Kelly Dorsey isn’t fully blind. She can see shapes and colors, but she can’t drive a car, she can’t go for a walk without worrying about stumbling over something and she can’t clearly see the faces of those she loves.

She was born with a rare condition called Bardet-Biedl syndrome, which causes her retinas to degenerate and has progressively left her with low vision. Thankfully, the doctors told Dorsey if she wasn't fully blind by 35, she won't lose her vision. She's 36.

There’s hope for her eyesight to improve, but it comes with a hefty price tag. She’s in need of eSight electronic glasses. When she first put them on, she was able to see her husband’s and mother’s faces for the first time since in years.

“But the most incredible moment was when I saw my beautiful 3-year-old daughter for the very first time,” Dorsey said.

But she didn’t just see her family. She saw her future, and it was bright and clear and full of possibilities. But to have that future, she needs $15,000 to buy the electronic glasses.

If you’re wondering if insurance could pay for it, Dorsey said that was the first question she asked, but it won’t cover it. Maybe down the line, but not now.

The glasses aren’t just important to Dorsey because it will make her vision clearer, it will open up a whole new world of opportunities, including going back to school and helping other people with disabilities.

“It means getting my life back to where I was,” she said. “Yes, I was diagnosed at seven or eight, but my vision didn’t start to go until after high school. When I was 19, that’s when it went downhill.”

Dorsey said she wants to be a disability counselor so she can help people like herself and give them the coping skills that she didn’t have.

“Maybe I can help somebody else see a loved one, a friend, themselves, that’s what it’s all about,” she said.

To donate, visit Dorsey’s GoFundMe page.