Meet the Southside lady who hasn’t let sight loss stop her achieving her dreams

A SOUTHSIDE woman has shared her experience of living with a genetic eye disease that has left her with only 5% vision.

Gerda Archer, aged 79, has lived with retinitis pigmentosa for most of her life.

She was diagnosed when she was a child after her family members noticed that whenever she would enter a room, she would turn on the lights even if it was bright.

“At the time, I just thought my sight was normal,” Gerda tells Southside People.

“I was taken to the eye specialist, and they said that I had a serious eye condition and that I would go blind.

“I was just 12 years of age.

“My mum didn’t tell me, but I overheard it when she was saying it to a friend.

“It was only when I was 21 years’ old that I got to know the official name of the disease – retinitis pigmentosa.

“I was always night blind and could never see in twilight or poor lighting.

“My family adapted and learned where I couldn’t see and helped me.

“That said, I have tried to be as independent as possible.

“It is all about touch for me, it gives me very powerful information.

“There are times that I go in a room and I see nothing.

“Other times, I can see better due to different light conditions. So, there are varying levels of vision loss.

“I never wanted to believe that I was blind and was very reluctant to use a cane.

“I didn’t want to appear different to other people.

“But now I sometimes wonder that maybe my sight loss is a gift.

“There is good and bad in everything. I try to focus on the good aspect and be grateful for what I have. It is often when we don’t have something, that we appreciate it more.”

Gerda says that she has about five per cent vision, with a small amount of central vision and no peripheral vision.

She recently had to have cataract surgery and, while her field of vision narrowed as a result, she now has greater acuity, colours are more vibrant and she can make out some shapes.

Gerda, who was born in Alsace in France, at a time when the region was under German occupation, moved to Ireland with her Irish mother and her sister when she was just four years of age.

She has never allowed her sight loss to stand in her way of achieving her dreams.

She studied nursing and went on to work as an intellectual disability nurse and as a private care nurse.

In addition to bringing up her own family, she has also fostered a number of children for short-term placements.

She also emigrated to the United States of America for a time where she worked as a telephonist and in a winery!

On her return home, she volunteered as a facilitator on the Alternatives to Violence Project in the Irish Prison service.

Gerda has four grown-up children (three sons and a daughter) and six grandchildren.

She enjoys listening to YouTube videos about quantum physics and mindfulness.

She also enjoys audio books, playing cards and Scrabble, walking and dancing, and travelling with friends.

Gerda lives with her guide dog, Ernie, at a Sue Ryder independent living community in Dalkey.

“Someone once said to me that I’d been through a lot of suffering in life,” Gerda says.

“I said ‘my goodness,’ I don’t see it as suffering, I see it as a challenge.

“Lots of people are worse off.

“Whatever happens to us, even if it is not pleasant, it’s an opportunity for us to find a new way of dealing with things.

“I’m living a life of being grateful for what I can see, rather than focusing on what I can’t see.”

Fighting Blindness’ Retina public engagement day takes place in Dublin this Saturday, November 5.

Aimed at people with sight loss and their families, the event will also be streamed live and is completely free.

Registration is at www.fightingblindness.ie