Mother Has Finding A Cure In Her Sights
By Kathy Walsh
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - A mother in Westminster is hosting a fundraiser this weekend to help find a cure for a disease that is blinding her children. Logan and Zoe Galloway are slowly losing their eyesight. They suffer from a rare, inherited condition that has no treatment.
Logan is a rambunctious boy. Zoe is his lively little sister. They are five and three years old, feisty and funny. To see them, you wouldn't believe they are going blind.
"It was traumatizing. I mean it changed my life and my family's life forever," Allison Galloway told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh.
Last year, Logan was diagnosed with Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA). His mother, Allison, says her son's type of LCA is a rare genetic defect, a mutation along the RDH12 gene.
"We had no idea that my husband and I were carriers of it," said Galloway. "Only about one in 100,000 people have it."
The Galloways were shocked to learn this year that Zoe has it, too.
"It's very scary for a parent," said Galloway holding back tears.
Galloway says her kids are two of only about 90 children in the U.S. with the condition.
"Some people were born completely blind already. Others have vision and lose it overtime. You don't know. It's a big question mark," Galloway explained.
There is no cure for the disease, so Galloway is hosting the first annual Eye Love Logan 5K fundraiser and silent auction in Westminster. The event will raise money and awareness for the RDH12 Fund for Sight.
Galloway says all of the money will go to the two researchers focused on the Galloways' disease.
When Walsh asked Galloway if she thinks there will be a cure in her children's lifetimes, Galloway answered, "I really hope so. Everything I do is to try to find that cure. So, don't get in the way of a momma. Moms figure it out and I will figure it out somehow."
LINKS:
Learn more about or register for the Eye Love Logan 5K
Kathy Walsh is CBS4's Weekend Anchor and Health Specialist. She has been with CBS4 for more than 30 years. She is always open to story ideas. Follow Kathy on Twitter @WalshCBS4.