Interview Highlight: Karen Pritchard

Published Feb 28, 2024, 10:00 PM

From 7 to 11 March a group of hikers and bushwalkers are taking part in the Trek for Vision, a trek across the South Island of New Zealand to raise vital funds for Vision Australia's Quality Living Groups and Vision Australia Radio.

Sam caught up with one of the participants, Karen Pritchard from Vision Australia's office in Parramatta, who herself has very low vision but is determined to put her hand up for everything and stay fit and active.

The trek for vision is soon underway from the 7th to the 11th of March, taking place across New Zealand, where each participant will raise vital funds for Virgin Australia to help support quality living groups and Vision Australia Radio to make a big difference to Australians who are blind or have low vision. And today it's my great pleasure to welcome one of those participants Vision Australia Parramatta's Karen Pritchard. Karen, welcome to Talking Vision. Thanks so much for your time today.

Thanks for having me, Sam.

Now, firstly, Karen, how long have you been working for Vision Australia and what was your motivation for getting involved?

I have only been at vision for about three months now, and I decided to be a little bit spontaneous for 2024 and saw this on our internal news platform and thought why not? So it was something I didn't really think about. I just knew that I've been put on earth to make a change and a difference in people's lives. And this was there. And I just went, yes, because if I think about it too much, I probably wouldn't have done it. So I just signed up and enquired about the rest of it afterwards.

And what is your particular role at Vision Australia?

I am a gift and will officer working in the fundraising team, and I help steward or build up relationships with our supporters who have already left a gift in their will and it's just checking in on them, sending them birthday cards, getting them to come along to a thank you lunch and just showing how much we really appreciate their support and generosity.

I understand, Karen, that you yourself have low vision. Would you be comfortable with sharing your vision status?

Yeah, definitely. Back when I was a teenager, my sister had been diagnosed with a genetic eye disease, which is supposed to be recessive and quite rare. And at that stage I still could see perfectly fine, so I was never really tested. A few years later, I kept losing the end of the sentence in a book, and where it joined up back at the beginning and went and got my eyes tested, thinking that I just need regular glasses. And it ended up that I had the same eye disease. And probably 12 months thereafter, I lost pretty much most of my eyesight. I'm now legally blind, and the doctors do say I've got 97% sight loss. My central vision is pretty much gone and I get around with my peripheral vision, but I don't feel like they've got it right because I still seem to be able to do a lot, no consistently challenge myself, and don't let my lack of eyesight define who I am. And that's part of the motivation of why I wanted to go on this trek, because it would be something that I'd be normally totally scared to do. But I thought if anything, I just need to keep trying and keep having a go.

That's right. And it's all about adapting to the new situation that you find yourself in, and what's been the most useful thing for you in that regard, the way that you've adapted, you know, what sort of devices you've got that have really stood you in good stead.

I think the two things for me is what I call food intelligence, and then basically just re-engineering my brain and thought process instead of me saying, oh, don't do what it's dangerous or be careful. I have been using trekking poles and understanding how to walk through the bush and on uneven footpaths or rocky environments through getting my feet to milea with the environment makes me feel more confident. And I've had a support worker doing a lot of training with me, and there's a bit of a joke amongst our training group that I'm actually my support worker. Support worker. I'm actually leading her most of the way, so I think I just had to also build my own mental confidence that I can do this and then just be careful on the down going down. My depth perception is dreadful.

Yeah, I can totally relate. I've been bushwalking myself as somebody with low vision. It's quite daunting when you haven't done it before. But yeah, there's definitely ways to do it. But yeah, definitely things to look out for. And um, yeah, my depth perception is pretty rubbish as well. So that's always a bit of a challenge, but you seem to have overcome it wonderfully. And staying on the topic of disclosure though, Karen, how comfortable are you sharing your vision status on an everyday basis?

I am very comfortable in talking about it now, but I've probably only been using my long cane for about 18 months now, so the disclosure isn't as essential when I'm in public spaces, because they can see that I'm using a long cane and I get lots of assistance in public environments in that way. But when I'm in spaces where I'm not using my long cane, like picking a sandwich from a place that's already got wraps made, I sometimes did this and say, oh, I didn't bring my glasses with me. Can you just read out the types of sandwiches you've got? And I just I call them life hacks, and that's how I just get around some sort of long winded way of explaining stuff sometimes. But I like the idea of sharing my lack of sight with people because. It really does go odds with the way I do interact with the world, and I can do anything. And when I be that advocate for other people, I think it gives them some sort of it will if she can do it. And my if that's not as bad as hers. So jump on board and just tell everybody about the wonderful diversity of people with low vision and blindness and all the different types of things we can do to limiting that by what other people think we can't do.

That is, um, an everyday thing where you go to a cafe, as you've said, and sometimes you say to them or, you know, I can't say the menu, could you like, tell me what's going on? And sometimes there's not that understanding because I just they still point to the thing and say, oh, the menus up there and why can't you read that? And you have to just keep saying, no, I can't do that. You need to tell me what is on the board or what's available today. And sometimes they really do get it. Sometimes they're a lot more understanding. But I guess it comes down to how many people have had exposure to that before. But it's also a way of helping people learn and giving them a different perspective. So do you see yourself as an advocate for the blind and low vision community, or is it just something you do and you don't really sort of think about?

Oh, I would see myself more as an advocate for people with disability rather than just blind or low vision, because where it on your chest is a badge of honor and let people know is really the way I like to run things. I even love saying to shop assistants when I'm looking for something at a particular size, or want to know how much something costs, I'll say, can I borrow your eyeballs? Mine are a bit broken and adding the humor to it. If they want to ask me questions, I welcome it. And sometimes they do. Uh, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I have my long cane with me, so I mix it up a bit. So I think it's important just to make the conversation comfortable for everybody. So then it's understandable. Not just at a work environment, but in a social environment or at a retail place.

We'll jump straight into the track now, Karen, and as you've mentioned, you've signed up to Vision Australia's New Zealand track alongside our CEO Ron, who is um, of course, a Kiwi himself as well as others heading on the track. So what was your motivation to head along?

I have decided that I'm going to start saying yes to things and let the way I achieve them figure itself out, because I used to think about things too much, and I love the idea that I'm going on a walk for Vision Australia, supporting such a fantastic organisation that has supported me in the past. It's my turn to give back. I'm connecting to an interest that I'm passionate about and I can communicate amongst my friends, so it was such a unique experience at a professional and personal level. I was put on earth to make change or difference in people's lives, and I don't know why or how that will happen. I think that's just going to happen through me just being me. But yeah, I just thought it was the right place, the right time. And I just went, yes, fill out the form, let's do it.

And there's a bit of a work connection in regards to what the track and tiles. So could you remind our listeners a bit more about that side of things? And I guess the fundraising aspect and where the money goes.

Yeah, there is a bit of a commitment, not just for yourself financially, because you do have to self-fund attending the trip yourself and your airfares. But then I had a fundraising goal of 3500 dollars, and just to be a little bit more competitive, I set myself a 10% extra limit. On top of that 3500, and I'm halfway through my goal at the moment, ticking over in seventh spot, hot on the heels of Ron Hooton, and I'm determined to at least achieve my goal before I leave. But then you've got the flip side. With all the training that's required, you can't just go and walk 60km around New Zealand and just go from sitting behind a desk and off you go. So there's been lots of early morning get up and go, lots of stretches, lots of Pilates. And I've been saying to people that my way I explain it is I've got 97% eyesight loss. I'm on the good side of 50. You can define that any way you like. And I'm sore in every part of my body from the neck down. But I'm going to do this and come along and join the journey, because it's fun and I'm going to have fun along the way. The money that we're actually raising for Vision Australia is going towards the quality living groups and Vision Australia Radio.

Yes, that's right, very exciting to hear about all the progress that people are making on the fundraising side of things, but also really excited to hear how people go on the track itself. So have you been hiking for long? Are you an experienced hiker, or is this quite a new sort of phenomenon for you?

So that would be a no in capital letters flashing never hiked before, right? Um, it is completely new to me, but as most people who don't drive would be aware that you are then forced onto the footpath, so walking distances is not. Familiar to me. I don't think of the 60km. I don't think of the number of hours. I just think that it's just what you've got to do. I never thought in my wildest dream 12 months ago that I'd be taking a holiday, not only to raise money for one of my favourite charities, but also choosing to use my annual leave to hike and walk. I love the idea of five star resorts and sitting back and having cocktails, but this is next level, and I think that I'm really lucky in a way that I don't drive because the walking won't be as a shock to me, I hope.

Yeah, no, that's true love. A good walk and it gets you fit and gets you active. And sometimes that walking, that just incidental walking you do every day you don't really think about. And then all of a sudden, at the end of the day, you've gotten all your steps and you think, oh my God, I've done, you know, such and such many kilometres today. And, you know, it just builds up from there. But how do you think you'll go on the hike? What are you sort of looking forward to the most on that trip in New Zealand?

Well, day one and two aren't too bad. They're like 12 and 17km. It's day three when we've already hiked for a couple of days. Day three is 21km and I know that I can do it, but my body might tell me something else by day three with regards to consistent days of the terrain more than just suburban walking. But we're going to be in great company. And we also have with another gentleman who's blind, bringing his support worker and another gentleman coming along, bringing his dog. So that really did give me a boost of confidence, knowing that the participation of other people who are blind or low vision actually made me feel, well, got no excuse. Now, I was really concerned going with all sighted people. But now that I know that there's some blind eyes like me, if I can use that term, it just creates a whole nother level of comfort for me.

All right.

And if our listeners would like to get behind you and your fundraising efforts, Karen, what's the best way for them to do that?

They'd be able to google Trek for Vision Australia, and that will lead to the landing page where you read a bit about the overall fundraising and all the people. And if you scroll to the bottom and look for Karen Pritchard, that's the one you need to actually donate to. Don't worry about anybody else, because I want to get up the ladder a bit more. I'd like to see myself up in six position.

Yes, definitely keep tabs on that for sure Karen. And all the best with that. And hopefully you're climbing up the leaderboard in no time. I've been speaking today with Karen Pritchard, joining me from Virgin Australia in Parramatta heading along to the trek for Vision in New Zealand. Karen, thank you so much for your time today. It was a pleasure to catch up and hear all about your trek.

I'm really excited to be able to share this with your listeners. Thanks for your time, Sam.

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