 In fact, things are so bad that in Lincoln, people are actually
stealing from the blind.The Rev. William "Bill" Dolan of Lincoln
has been blind for more than a quarter of a century. The well-known
Lincolnite is the manager of WLLM, Lincoln's Christian radio
station.
Dolan hopes to have surgery next summer to restore at least a
portion of his sight.
However, he's waiting until he has the $25,000 he needs for the
surgery before moving forward. Currently, he has amassed less than
$2,000 of the needed amount.
In an effort to help, Margaret "Marky" Gleason, a co-worker at
WLLM, decided to put collection jars out in several community
businesses so people could make donations to assist Dolan.
"I put five jars out and people are stealing the jars," said an
overwhelmed Gleason. "Two of them have been taken. People are
literally stealing from the blind."
Gleason said that after consulting with Dolan, she is reluctantly
removing the jars.
She encouraged anyone who wishes to help Dolan to make their
donations directly to a bank account that has been set up for that
purpose at Illini Bank, 2201 Woodlawn Road, Lincoln, IL 62656.
Stricken with glaucoma, Dolan's vision grew continually worse
from the time he was a youngster until he was 14 years old. At that
point, his doctor performed an unsuccessful laser surgery that
completely destroyed the sight in that eye.
With his "good" eye, Dolan, now 42, can only perceive light and
see a little color and movement.
He was overjoyed last summer when his current glaucoma doctor
told him of medical advances that could restore at least a portion
of his vision.
Physicians at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University
of Miami and Dr. Kenneth Goins at the University of Iowa Department
of Ophthalmology confirmed the good news. The doctors are unsure how
much Dolan's eyesight will be improved, but they guaranteed him that
it will be better than it is now.
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"The stronger the optic nerve, the more I (will be able) to see,"
Dolan said. "Glaucoma can destroy the optic nerve.
"My retina is in good shape, but they don't know about the optic
nerve. That's the mystery.
"My sight could improve anywhere from 5 percent to 80 percent."
Dolan said in an earlier interview that any funds given will go
directly toward the eye surgery and the costs related to it.
"The surgery will be pretty simple, but the post care will be
quite costly and complicated," he explained. "It could go on for six
months, and that will mean trips back and forth to Chicago, or
wherever I have the surgery. The place hasn't been decided yet.
"For the last 25 years since I've been this way, I've never had
hope -- actual, tangible hope -- that my sight can be improved.
"Now, I have hope."
And even petty thieves haven't destroyed that hope.
[By NANCY SAUL]
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