Ballwin Family's Vision May Help Others See

A common joy of parenthood is watching the new abilities a child gains as he or she gets older. For parents like Ballwin’s Leslie and Jason Morris, however, the potential for their son to lose one of his abilities can sometimes make parenthood terrifying.

Their 8 year-old son Jack was diagnosed around age 4 with retinitis pigmentosa, commonly called “RP,” an inherited condition that typically causes night blindness and the progressive loss of peripheral vision, oftentimes eventually leaving the patient legally blind.

Jack still plays guitar, writes poetry and even enjoys baseball, but working around his RP still presents challenges, his mother said.

“It’s devastating to watch my 8-year-old son Jack lose vision to retinal disease,” Leslie Morris said. “But, I’m hopeful for a brighter future because the Foundation Fighting Blindness is funding many avenues of promising research.”

In addition to other fundraisers held across the country, the non-profit Foundation Fighting Blindness is hosting a fundraiser Saturday at Tower Grove Park to benefit young people like Jack and his family. Proceeds pledged from the 5K “VisionWalk” there will go toward gene therapy research and other advances meant to fight retinal degenerative diseases that also includes macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease and others.

In all, the foundation estimates there are about 10 million Americans with some kind of “sight-stealing disease.” Since the VisionWalks started in 2006, organizers said more than 60,000 walkers have participated around the U.S. to raise more than $17 million in research. Organizers hope  to raise $50,000 at Saturday’s event.

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