“I spent years in denial after losing my sight” – Rosanne Ramitt

“At any given moment you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end,” and for the past five years that is exactly what Rosanne Ramitt has been constantly telling herself. She has been picking herself up every day, brushing off and moving along doing extraordinary things even though she considers them pretty ordinary.
You see, Rosanne is unlike any other 23 year old you would meet. She is strong willed with a sense of purpose and a drive even more powerful than her need to succeed in every task she undertakes.
About a decade ago, Rosanne was diagnosed with a rare condition called panuveitis, that would lead to her losing her vision altogether.
Panuveitis is inflammation of all layers of the uvea of the eye, which includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. These make up the middle layer of the eye. The condition can also affect the lens, retina, optic nerve, and vitreous, causing reduced vision or blindness. Signs and symptoms may include eye redness and pain; blurring; light sensitivity; decreased vision; and seeing floaters.
It can last for a short time or can occur chronically. Severe cases may recur many times. In many cases the specific cause is unknown, but in some cases, it occurs in association with other eye conditions, or with another condition or infection that also affects other body parts. Early treatment is needed and may include eye drops to reduce inflammation and pain; and/or oral medications or injections in severe cases.
“I was pretty normal before age 13 and at the age of 13 I started having headaches, eye pain and I didn’t take it for anything and I never wore any glasses or had any eye problems so it was that that led to the deterioration of my vision. I was later diagnosed with panuveitis and that led to my visual impairment,” the 23-year-old teacher related.
Rosanne dropped out of school after she lost her vision and slipped into a dark place. She recalls it as being one of the most difficult periods of her life as she was unwilling to accept that she lost her vision. She lived every passing day, for the better part of three years, living with the hope that her condition could have been reversed by her doctors. However, her condition was so progressed that she lost her vision.
“It was very difficult. For anyone having to have a drastic change like that would never be easy. On the surface, I seemed okay but mentally and emotionally I did not accept it. I always had this thought that the doctors would able to cure the condition which is possible but mine isn’t so I spent about 2-3 years in denial and it was centred around being ashamed.”
“I didn’t like the new identity I had to assume because everybody was like oh you blind and whatever so I couldn’t go on,” she said.
After struggling with accepting her new reality, Rosanne started classes at the Guyana Society for the Blind and would eventually sit the 2014 Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate exams and secured 5 Grade One passes and immediately started the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). She would graduate two years later as a trained teacher and now teaches at the Ministry of Education’s Blind Unit.
Immediately after graduating the CPCE, Rosanne enrolled at the University of Guyana where she graduated in 2018 with an Associate’s Degree in Social Work. She is now at UG reading for her Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
“That word blind, I couldn’t associate that word with myself because I had never been in a position like that. It was really until I started going to the Society for the Blind when I started my process towards accepting my disability so it was not easy at all. There was no support for me, I was not aware of any services available so I spent most of the time at home, or at the hospital so I really didn’t socialize at all.”
The ultimate goal for her is achieving success in every field she ventures in. She advocates for people living with disabilities to ensure that they have access to all the support they need to live their best lives.
“My philosophy is always want to be better than how you are today, never be satisfied with what you are because you can always be better. There is always room for Improvement so grab opportunities, work hard and get what you want. Keep positivity as a tool because that is what got me through a lot.”