Full speed ahead: Asha’s Journey

 

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Like any new parents, Fiona and Matt dreamed of the fulfilling, happy life their beautiful baby daughter, Asha, would have. They imagined a future full of fun, adventures and endless possibilities. But when Asha was just three weeks old, they noticed her pupils were cloudy white. Fear clutched their hearts as they rushed to the hospital, desperate for answers. In a small, windowless hospital room, Fiona and Matt heard the words that shattered their world: Your baby is blind.

After a series of stressful tests, a specialist ophthalmologist confirmed their worst nightmare. “The poor man had to tell us our baby was blind,” Fiona remembers.

“I can still feel how heartbroken I was, how fitting the aged, yellowish walls around us were for the moment; sad, drab and hopeless.”

Asha was born with congenital cataracts – clouded lenses that blocked light from reaching her brain. Without urgent treatment, vital pathways might never form. Her future was uncertain. Asha and her family desperately needed someone to help them. They needed someone like you.

But this was just the beginning of Asha’s incredible story.

Before Asha was even 10 weeks old, she endured two delicate eye surgeries. Even with them, Asha is blind without her corrective lenses and will have low vision for life. Every day meant painful eyedrops and fragile contact lenses. “We had to hold her down a lot,” Fiona recalls. “Sometimes it was so difficult we had to go to the hospital or local optometrist for help. It felt like she had the strength of 100 men when she was a baby.” The family drove hours to hospital appointments, week after week, for almost three years. Even today, Asha still needs check-ups every three months. It was heartbreaking. Exhausting. Overwhelming.

But thanks to support from generous donors, they didn’t face it alone. Blind Low Vision NZ stepped in, offering expert support and hope. “We were assigned a lovely human called Alana. When she arrived, I cried with her a lot,” says Fiona. Then, something incredible happened. At 11 weeks old, Asha wore her contact lenses for the first time. She looked into a mirror, saw her reflection, and smiled. “We all went and had a wee cry,” Fiona says softly. That smile changed everything.

Thanks to kind donations, Blind Low Vision NZ was there for Asha’s journey through daycare and school – training her teachers, adapting classrooms with accessible technology and providing the independence and mobility skills she needed to grow in confidence.

As Asha gained confidence, she learned to swim – even though it was scary without her glasses, as wearing only contacts significantly reduces her low vision. The first time she was brave enough to put her head underwater and swim, she popped up with a huge grin and yelled, “I can do it, Mum, I can do it! I can see underwater!” This support gave Asha the belief to advocate for herself and live boldly.

Unstoppable Asha

Today at 14, Asha is unstoppable. Every Tuesday night, she helps train dogs at puppy school. “I love helping the puppies and helping their owners to understand them. Some of the shyest ones are the most outgoing at the end of the 6 weeks.” She plays guitar and piano, performing different genres just for fun. She once learned the Harry Potter theme song on the piano! Recently, Asha went camping on Stewart Island for her school camp; swimming, sailing and hiking with friends, all without Mum and Dad. “I really like trying new things,” she says. Thanks to ongoing support, Asha dreams of a career in animation and voice acting. “I love animation because it’s something I can be proud of.”

But behind the smiles lie very real challenges. Asha’s specialised glasses cost $1,200, but the government provides only $250. Her contact lenses cost hundreds more. The tech she needs for school is expensive and constantly needs updating. Right now, she’s struggling with an eight-year-old computer that’s “absolutely dying.” Fiona worries that without updated technology, Asha risks falling behind at school.Your support provides children like Asha with vital technology training, mobility and independence skills, and assistive tech like digital magnifiers and laptops.

From that suffocating hospital room to the bright, adventurous girl she is today, Asha’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. “I’m honestly blown away. I was told my baby may never walk or read,” Fiona recalls. But Asha just kept proving them wrong. “I had to adjust the ‘what might be possible’ in my head so many times when she was little because she kept doing things I had put to the side of my mind as ‘nevers’ or ‘maybes’.” Fiona knows that so much of this is possible because of your kindness. “When I think about another parent being told their baby can’t see,” Fiona says through tears, “it’s just the idea that people who care will be there, who can help… that’s just massive for me.”

Help Create More Bright Futures

Every three hours, someone in New Zealand loses their sight. Each one will need support to thrive, just like Asha.

Asha truly appreciates that donors make the help she receives from Blind Low Vision NZ possible. “Thank you. You are the reason I’m here today. And the reason a lot of others are too,” she says. Thanks to 14 years of support, Asha has become a bold, thriving teenager with endless dreams.

“Blind Low Vision NZ is important because it’s there to help people like me who can’t see, to see the world in a different way.”

Your generosity can create more incredible stories like this. Donate today and help create bright futures full of fun, friendship and adventure.