Meet Sharon and Harold Hosack

Sharon and Harold have been married 55 years, and have a loving marriage and happy family with three children and eight grandchildren. Ten years ago, Sharon was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, a common eye disease that disrupts central vision. Learning that Dr. Karl Csaky is “one of the world’s experts on macular degeneration”, she requested all of her appointments with him.

A few years ago, Dr. Csaky made a personal phone call and informed Sharon of a new long-term study at the Retina Foundation that she was a perfect fit for. Wanting to help our research, too, but not having the disease, Harold was able to enroll in the same research study as an individual with a “normal” retina.

Shockingly, when Harold came in for vision assessments at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dr. Csaky discovered that he has the beginning stage of age-related macular degeneration. Now, Harold and his wife are both participating in the same study, but not in the way they originally anticipated.

“Macular degeneration runs in our family, and we hope our participation in this research study will help with the discovery of a treatment that could help our children and grandchildren.”