Milford chronicle., 1962-08-17
Research Backed
BY Blind Girl
By MARY CAMPBELL
AP NeWsfeatures Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - A striking
brunette who lost her sight l6
years ago has not yet got around
to learning Braille acquiring
guide dog or buying a cane.
She has been too busy founding
and heading the National Councif
to Combat Blindness Inc. better
known as The Fight for Sight.
Mildred Weisenfeld was when
she temporarily lost her sight dur
ing an ATTACK of measles. AT 15
slow diminishing of vision was
diagnosed as a progressive disease
of the retina which generally leads
to blindness. She was 23 when her
eyes were operated ON unsucceSs-
fully and she was blind.
She recalls 81 think / had sur
gerry done in February. / began
Immediately ito ask How many
others are there like myself?' and
What is being done about re-
search?'
Il began asking questions of the
surgeon in the Institution where
the operation was done.
81 found out there were hum
dreds of agencies for rehabiliIta-
tion of the blind others focusing
on educational programs for eye
care but no agency concentrating
it's efforts on funds for eye re-
search"
She also discovered after leav
ing the hospital that most persons
L III hi dv,, iv,o ,f,ah
birth defect or the result of an
accident while actually the major
portion is due to eye diseases.
"Also while helping the blind lis
| one of the Oldest charities in, the
world the public didn't see this as
a health problem.
1T made me rebellious. l want
ed to do something about it.
Miss Weisenfeld thinks the ans
wer to why she so quickly became
| absorbed in eye research rather
than in her personal adjustment to
| a world of darkness lies in her
own temperament.
'I've always been impatient had
a lot of energy more extrovert
than introvert and I'm afraid /
suffer from being perfectiOnist." "
The first thing Miss Weisenfeld
| tried to do was interest a large
| foundation or a wealthy person in
| sponsoring research into causes
| treatments and cures of eye dis
| eases.
The conversation usually went
| like this she remembers:
"'What organization is behind
you?
"'Just me. This is a problem
| that just has to be attacked.
"'Well this is not quite the way
| it's done"
Then Dr. Daniel A. Polling editor
of the Christian Herald helped
Miss Weisenfeld organize a COM
| mittee of sponsors and scien-
tific advisory committee. Publicity
brought donations and many offers
| of help. Gradually an organization
evolved.
Now there is a board of direc-
tors an annual all-star fund-rais-
ing event at Carnegie Hall Fight
for Sight leagues for Embarrassing
in New York New Jersey Vir-
ginia Miami and Philadelphia II
employees in an office at Al w.
57th ST. New York.
In 1861 $375000 was raised and
| ALLEGATIONS made of $260000 for
research projects s15500 to re
search supplemental pertinent to
| search S22500 to public in
| formation $500 to services for
the blind and the balance to fund
raising and administration.
| Among the many projects re
| searchers are working ON is that
of cornea transplant surgery =
| trying to find out what sometimes
causes newly transplanted cor
nea to become defective. One re-
searcher is attempting to fashion
cornea out of material which
is composition rather than living
tissue.
| Miss Weisenfeld has built her
life around Fight for Sight though
it was not her original intent to
do so. For her work she says
''The day is never long enough"
| She met her husband Albert
L -.