Cycling for sight

Cyclists in Cayman have a chance to ride for a cause next month in the Lions Cycling for Sight event.

The event starts at Lovers Wall in East End and finishes at the Lions Community Centre in George Town. Each cyclist will be pay an entry fee of $50 and Lions Club of Grand Cayman members will provide water stops along the way. Participants will have an opportunity to win prizes including smartphones and gift vouchers.

The fundraiser will be held Sunday, 28 April.

“The Lions Club urgently needs new hand held vision screening devices. These devices cost $8,855 each. SPOT is modern eye screening equipment designed for children and specifically screens for several common vision issues,” said Lions President Ian Callow. “We need hard cash to help us to purchase this equipment which will help us with our screening programme. We are appealing to everyone in the community to come out and support us, whether you participate as a rider or come out and to cheer the riders’ home.”

The Lions Club of Grand Cayman has a long history of providing sight screening within schools across the Cayman Islands. The screening is designed to detect early vision disorders in children between the ages of five and thirteen. If a young child’s eyes cannot send clear images to the brain, his or her vision may become limited in ways that cannot be corrected later in life. Early screening helps ensure children have an opportunity to reach their full potential.

Why screening is important

Eighty-five per cent of a child’s learning is related to sight. When vision problems begin in early childhood, a child does not know he/she has a problem because the brain compensates for the poor vision. Therefore, the child with a vision problem won’t complain, and he/she may not have symptoms that parents would notice.

Some vision problems must be identified as early as possible to ensure successful treatment. This is true of Amblyopia (lazy eye), which if left untreated, can lead to permanent vision loss.

Lions have gained worldwide recognition for their work to improve sight and prevent blindness.

In 1925 Helen Keller challenged Lions to become ‘knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness’. Today sight programmes remain one of the Lions defining causes.

There is also an opportunity to donate funds to the Lions at PO Box 1400, Grand Cayman KY1 1110.