Meet Lina, a young girl with a bright future
When Lina was just a few weeks old, she was given a clean bill of health from doctors. But her parents knew something wasn’t quite right with her vision. Following their instincts, Jess and Patrick took Lina to a paediatric ophthalmologist at 20 weeks, where their suspicious were confirmed.
Lina was diagnosed with several conditions that impact her vision, including the most severe form of albinism – a genetic condition known as Oculocutaneous Albinism type 1A (OCA1a). But thanks to Vision Australia, this was a journey their family wouldn’t need to take alone.
"We left the ophthalmologist appointment with a referral for Vision Australia and were on the phone with them by the end of the week," recalls Lina’s Mum, Jess. Vision Australia immediately stepped in to provide early intervention services funded by donations, ensuring Lina received crucial support while her family worked through the complexities of the NDIS.
"Vision Australia has given us so much – it has been our beacon of light in a very unfamiliar journey," Jess shares. "It’s also opened up social connections through playgroups and music classes so we can meet with other families and children with vision impairment like Lina...it’s a really amazing support network for us, which is what we needed,” she says.
This support and social programs have allowed Lina to flourish and given Jess, Patrick, and Lina’s older siblings—Dominic (9) and Alba's (7)—a strong community of families on similar paths.
As Lina approaches her third birthday, her family is looking forward to participating in 100K Your Way for a second year. Jess and Patrick will be walking, jogging, swimming and cycling to raise funds to support Vision Australia’s vital work and give back to a community that means so much to them.
“It means so much that people are taking on 100K Your Way to support families like ours and kids like Lina, who will be supported by Vision Australia for the rest of her life.”
About Vision Australia
Vision Australia is a leading national provider of blindness and low vision services in Australia. We work in partnership with Australians who are blind or have low vision to help them achieve the possibilities they choose in life.
We support more than 25,500 people of all ages and life stages, and circumstances. We do this through 35 Vision Australia centres in Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia; and through outreach programs in the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
We are a not-for-profit organisation and a major participant and partner in the international blindness community.
You can read more about Vision Australia on the website here.
