In 2017, I was diagnosed with X-linked retinal degeneration (cone-rod dystrophy), caused by a change in the RPGR gene. I inherited it from my grandfather. I had just become a lawyer and was finding it hard to balance my work commitments with my degenerating eyesight. My future suddenly looked very different.

Statistics show that people living with vision loss are 3 times more likely to suffer from mental health issues than people with normal vision. My diagnosis made me feel so alone, like I was the only person who could understand the loss I was experiencing. I left the workforce and took the time I needed to get comfortable with myself again.

After connecting with Fighting Blindness Canada I now know that I’m not alone – there are 1.5 million Canadians who are blind or partially sighted and 5.5 million Canadians with eye diseases that put them at risk of vision loss.  

My grandfather was never able to get a diagnosis for the cause of his vision loss, but medical science has come a long way since then. Not only do I know what I have, I also know that a treatment or cure for my vision loss – and for the almost 300 million people around the world with some form of vision loss - is possible in my lifetime and theirs. Research is the key and research costs money.

That’s why I’ve decided to walk across Canada, from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia in 2021 to raise funds for research leading to future treatments and cures. I want to see Canada before I can’t see it anymore and I want my walk to mean something.

Please walk with me by sponsoring me and sharing my journey.

If you’d like more information about how my preparations for the walk are going, please follow me on Instagram @LookingForward2021 and through our regularly updated blog at www.LookingForward2021.ca.

Thank you,

John Forman