My name is Anum, I am 20 years old, soon to be 21.

Some of you probably know that I have Usher Syndrome as we went to the same school.

Where can I start?

I was born in Africa, Kenya, some of you couldn't believe that I was born there but I was.  

I was born hearing, then when I was about 8 months old, I got meningitis. My family wasn't expecting that to happen and struggled with what to do about me because I was only 8 months old.

We went to the hospital for a few checks up. The doctors told my parents that I was fully deaf and there was no going back. So my father who is currently in Kenya made a huge sacrifice to send me away to England to have a better life, better education and a better future.

So I moved to England when I was about 1 year old with my mum, my brother and sister while my father stayed living in Africa, working hard as a doctor for his whole life. We still do go to Kenya and visit him in the summer of course, sometimes it can be hard because of the distance! Anyways we moved to England and I started a hearing impaired primary school and while there I had some problems, with falling down, banging in something, dropping objects and unable to find things!

My teaching assistant noticed something wasn't right while I was doing games, I kept falling over, being very clumsy and unable to find the ball. After this happened she informed my mother about it. My family noticed as well at home and got concerned. So they decided to take me Moorfield eye hospital for a check up.

To be honest I don't even remember going to that hospital for the first time because I was only about 9 or 10 years old. They told my mum that I have Retinitis Pigmentosa which is the blind part of the Usher Syndrome. This made my life really difficult because my deafness and blindness were linked together.

I was aware I had Usher Syndrome when I was 10 years old. I struggled so much, struggled to see in the dark, worried what other people would say, got so frustrated when I trip over, bump into people, even though I do say sorry to them but they gave a bad attitude back which is dreadful, I get so upset when it makes my life hard but I won't let Usher Syndrome take my life over. I am always try to be strong.

My family and close friends understood it and supported me through it. They also help me in the dark as their guide. I really do appreciate it because I do need some support!

I hated going to hospital for my eyes check up, it was horrible and dreadful. I hated the eye tests and eye drops. Even worst I hate hearing not very good news from the doctors which upsets me. Sometimes when I go to the eye hospital for my check it takes hours, then at the end there is bad news.

I get really frustrated and wonder what is the point of going there because there ain't gonna be any miracle or cure to make my eyes better but what can I do?

What has happened has happened, no one is perfect and we have to be happy with what we got and what we can achieve.

I went to a boarding school for 8 years and met few people who got ushers. They probably felt similar to me.  I was glad that I wasn't the only one.

At first I used to let my ushers bother me,  stop myself from going out with my friends, used to stop myself from being social, used to stay indoors but then  I realised that it was making my life miserable so I decided to do what I wanted to do. I go out a lot, have a good social life.

I go clubbing which involves the dark with lots of flashing lights and I have support from my friends and family who keep their eye out for me and always make sure I am ok.

You mustn't let your ushers stop you from anything. Be happy and do what you want to do and what you always wanted to do.

There are days I feel so down but I try to do lots of things to keep busy and avoid being negative. I used to be negative but now I am not. Good days and bad.

For those who have Usher Syndrome, you are not alone, try not to let it bother you. Sometimes I get dreadful headaches, eyes aching, feeling dizzy, flashes, tired and weak. Sometimes I get very clumsy and fall over or trip over and my friends would laugh at me and I would laugh at myself  because I don't let it bother me! I am glad I am not alone and totally understand you guys feeling! BE STRONG AND DON'T LET YOUR USHERS BOTHER YOU even though it's a horrible condition! Keep smiling

Hey my name is Jodie, and I am any normal eighteen year old except having to cope with this cruel condition too!
So here’s my story.. I had no clue what RP or Usher syndrome was until I joined secondary school, and had a friend in my year who was diagnosed with it, I learnt bits from her just by asking her questions about how she coped and what it was like. I knew she struggled in the dark a lot because she always asked someone to guide her around the school. I always thought to myself how brave she was coping this condition at such a young age and that I was the ‘lucky’ one that I didn’t have it. She sadly left by the end of year seven and then forgotten about Usher as I got on with my life. The Halloween night came by and I was out trick or treating with my friends and my sister, then there was a low brick wall with a street lamp above it, I just happened to walk straight into it and tripped over and bumped my head, of course my friends laughed and my mum got bit concerned about it because anybody would have seen that. Weeks went by, I began to bump into things or trip over the objects and I chose to ignore it and thought I was just being clumsy child. My mum wasn’t having it so she took me to opticians to have my eye tested, I didn’t really know what was going on and just thought I needed glasses. But until the lady said that I could be diagnosed with Usher syndrome and needed to transfer me to the hospital for further tests. I just sat on the chair froze and thought to myself this is impossible? I was only 13 years old .. My mum went hysterical and burst into tears, so we both walked out the opticians and told my dad and my sister the news, my dad fought back his tears and tried to stay strong for me while my sister started to cry. They already knew little bit about the ushers because I told them about my old friend I had in my school. 
When we got home, my mum researched more on the computer about the ushers, and I used to get really angry at her and telling her to stop looking it up and that I ‘don’t’ have it, I guess I was in denial at that time believing that the lady at the opticians had got it wrong. Then it was the day I had to go to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, my hands was shaking and my thoughts were all over the place but I had to stay strong for my parents. When we saw the doctor, she tested my eyes with field vision tests and I remember the first time I had eye drops in, I hated it! Then the consultant came in and started explaining about the Usher syndrome and gave my parents books and leaflets. I just sat on that chair just blanking everything out and thinking this must be a terrible dream. I went home later on that day, and I knew I had to tell my friends at school, so I started to tell my close friends that I have Ushers syndrome and they were very supportive and already knew little about the condition. So I was little more relaxed around them because they treated me like normal and only ask if I needed help to get about in the dark. I used to be so stubborn and say ‘No’ I can cope with this all by myself and pushed my friends away when they asked if I needed help to get around in the dark, as I walked in the dark by myself, I struggled so much and got so terrified because I didn’t want to walk into something and get hurt. So I ended up telling my friends to help me get around in the dark and they understood that I wanted to be independent teenager but only needed extra help. 
Now my family and friends are all aware of my condition and learnt that they don’t need to go over the top about it and just take one day at a time, I still go to hospital appointments and yet I still moan about going or I didn’t want to do the tests and I still get frustrated when I trip over things and bump into something but that’s something I have to live with I guess? I had no one to talk to about my usher similar to my age until I met this lovely girl Molly who also had the condition. I just remember the first time inboxing her on Facebook and asking how to open up to people about my worries and I kept bottling things up inside me because I didn’t want to upset anybody and wanted them to think that I coped fine. She replied back and she was so calm and reassured me that it wasn’t good holding things in and it’s better to let people know how you’re really feeling. So I took that advice and opened my worries to my close friends and boyfriend and they were really supportive, especially my boyfriend took his time to research the condition and try to understand that I needed little support at night times and not to wave the sides when I can’t see very well, he even goes to the hospital appointments and coped my complaining about the eye tests that I had to do. He was there all along just by holding my hand and making sure everything is ok alongside by my family too.
You should never let usher stop you doing things you want to do in life, even though it may be hard but try and achieve it with extra support, I am very glad that Molly had set up the website and blogs where I can happily read people’s stories and feel a lot better about it when I know I’m not alone in this cruel condition. So I would like to say great big thank you to Molly and her family for taking their time to do this amazing website/charity to get more people to be aware of the condition. Lastly I like to say big thank you to my family for being so supportive and being there when I need it.