Nuestra Comunidad: Neighbors provide help to woman who lost sight

404-625-4075 (Olga Lucía Jiménez)

As a single mother with just one child, it might appear that María Zoriano has a small family. In the almost two years that have passed since losing her sight, however, Zoriano’s neighbors have rallied together and become her extended family.

“They mean a lot to me. If it weren’t for them I don’t know where I’d be. They’ve helped me, they’ve supported me in everything,” said Zoriano.

From the moment she wakes up, Zoriano has an army of people waiting to help her. One neighbor calls every day to checks in on ands help prepare her meals. Two other neighbors make sure her 11-year-old son, Israel, gets on the school bus safely.

“If I have to go to the doctor, or if my son has to go to the doctor, sometimes I don’t have enough money to even call a cab because I don’t work, but they all help me,” said Zoriano about the residents at Colonial Place, an apartment complex in Tucker, where she has lived for eight years.

Zoriano began experiencing vision problems after hitting her head in a car accident in 2013. She said she hit a wall when her brakes malfunctioned.

“I began losing my sight, I couldn’t see signs anymore and my vision started getting cloudy,” she said. “I get sad because I drop things. I can’t go anywhere alone, I have to wait for someone to come help me do whatever I need.”

Before the accident, Zoriano had a job and was the one offering assistance by giving rides to work or helping them to look for employment. It is precisely because of these acts of generosity that the community has come together to now help her, said neighbor Vicente García.

“Miss Mary is a really good person, she really likes to help people. She always helped those most in need,” said García.

Another neighbor, Ramón Piñeros, echoed these sentiments. “She’s been a very determined woman. She’s always willing to help people; to help children and help seniors find work.”

Tears fall down Zoriano’s cheeks as she longs to see again.

“My hope is to see again, especially my son. I can see his silhouette but I can’t see his face,” she said.

For now, the 41 year-old mother’s hope rests on a surgical procedure that could return her sight and allow her to once again be independent and support her son. Portal de la Salud, an initiative of the church Misión Católica Nuestra Señora de las Américas, in Lilburnis going to help her with that dream.

Through this group’s intervention, Gwinnett Medical Center has offered to cover the cost of treatment for the next three months, including eye surgery. What Zoriano now needs is a doctor who is willing to operate pro bono, or offer a payment plan, according to Olga Lucía Jiménez, executive director of Portal de Salud.

“I’ve been looking for a surgical ophthalmologist who can do the surgery within this time period so that the hospital expenses will be covered. I’ve called several doctors and left messages, but no one has called me back,” said Jiménez, who added that the first thing Zoriano will need is to be evaluated in order to determine whether or not she is a candidate for surgery, as well as if eye surgery would return her vision.

“I ask God every day to give me strength,” she said. “If there is someone out there who can help me, God will bless them.”