...you can't do it alone, it’s truly a gift when you realize that you need others.
Carol Mackey, 78, of Cumberland Center, Maine, was born with cataracts in both eyes, but learned to adapt throughout her childhood and later as an adult during her 30-year career in advertising. Carol kept her condition to herself, living with progressive sight loss and the frustration and isolation that often follows.
"For years I was living a false life, I was in denial and refused to admit that anything was wrong," said Carol. "At my job, I spent much more time on simple tasks. I would use the enlarge feature on our office copy machine to print and be able to read materials until even the largest enlarged font became hard to see."
Carol's life changed one night while driving to a meeting when she realized it was no longer safe for her to be behind the wheel. "I couldn’t tell where traffic was coming from." She subsequently left her job and stopped driving that same week. "I knew it was coming, and I avoided it as long as I could." Carol had lost vision completely in her right eye, getting by with only limited vision in her other eye.
After consulting with her ophthalmologist, Carol began reaching out to others for support, including state agencies, family members, and friends. "It wasn't easy, but it was a load off my mind to finally share the secret I had been keeping for most of my life."
Developing her support circle, Carol discovered a volunteer driver program in her community and built a network of personal connections and resources to address her physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. It was through the Iris Network, a program that provides training, education, and support for residents of Maine who are visually impaired or blind, that Carol first learned about Hadley.
"One of the hardest adjustments to vision loss can be emotional," said Julie Tye, Hadley's CEO. "Realizing that an impairment is likely permanent can be devastating news. But small wins can make all the difference. Things like discovering a new way to dial your phone or read your mail rebuilds a sense of control and confidence. Figuring out how to use Alexa or an iPhone to read text aloud to you; that's a real game-changer. Daily tasks become less time-consuming and frustrating. Life can become more enjoyable again. There's more hope for the future."
Carol quickly began participating in Hadley's discussion groups. "There are so many topics, and I love how the groups are structured, it is highly interactive, and everyone comes prepared with information and ideas." Today, Carol loves to write poetry, read and garden, and is exploring other interests for learning through Hadley. "There is always something new to learn. I talk about Hadley to everyone I encounter each day."
For her commitment to engaging others with visual impairments and keeping them connected to much-needed resources, Carol has been named a recipient of Hadley's HEROES Award, given to those who help further Hadley's mission to create personalized learning opportunities that inspire and empower those with vision loss or blindness to thrive at home, at work, and in their communities.
Speaking to others who are experiencing vision loss for the first time, Carol's advice is to reach out to people. "Talk to others, develop your network, share your feelings and thoughts, you can't do it alone, it’s truly a gift when you realize that you need others."