When I was eight years old I loved my cricket and my toy cars. I dreamed of being a New Zealand cricketer driving around in my late model Italian car. However my dreams were ripped into taters as I was given the news that I had a fairly rear eye condition called Stagardts.
Stargardts is a genetic eye condition that effects the central part of the eye. The on set usually happens in the years between age 7-12, for me it was eight. The condition takes around ten years to completely degenerate and for once the damage was fully done I was left with a visual acuity of 3/60 which means what a fully sighted person sees from 60 metres away I have to be three metres away to see it. My peripheral vision has remained in tact but as central part of the eye is responsible for a lot of the fine tuning, the vision I do have is fairly vague.
When I look straight ahead I see what can only be described as a big ball of fuzzy dots. When I look at someone it always looks like I am looking slightly to the left or the right of them. Not seeing detail means reading and writing without significant magnification.
My eyes take significantly longer than fully functioning eyes, to adjust to dark or light conditions. Although night blindness isn’t an outcome of Stagardt’s it does still take a while for my eyes to adjust to a dark environment after coming from a brighter one.
How does this affect your running?When I train alone I have to rely heavily on my other senses. Over almost 20 years of running over 35,000 kilometres I have encountered many difficult situations including, crashing into road works, old ladies, grey fences, gutters and ditches. Fortunately I concentrate really hard when I run so despite only having five percent vision I can often make up for this by memorizing routes, and taking note with my peripheral vision of my surroundings.
On the track when I race it can often be difficult tactically. Running around a track is fine I have done it a lot so know what to expect. However every race is different and a tight bunch situation can sometimes be difficult to cope with as perceiving the distance to the next runner is difficult and also sensing the key break in the race is tough. I don’t like to lead from the front, or run out wide or to the back, but unfortunately my tactics are often limited to this.
What do you use to read and write?If you see me walking on the street you may not be immediately aware that I have an impairment. I do not carry an orientation cane nor do I wear glasses. The reasons for this is that glasses do not help my condition and I believe I am able to get around without a cane even if some may disagree.
When it comes to reading and writing however I do need some special assistance. Since I was ten years old I have used a CCTV magnifying screen. The one I am currently using is called an Aladin CCTIV (Closed Circuit Television) which consists of a 14” TV screen placed three inches above a tray where the paper sits. Below the TV screen is a camera which sits above the paper and enlarges it onto the screen where the writing comes up 14-16 times the size. I can also write under this device.
On the computer I use a programme called Zoom Text which enlarges everything that appears on the computer screen. This enables me to surf the internet and use all relevant computer programmes.
Both the CCTV and computer were very important in completing my University Degree.
Hi there, my name is Tim Prendergast and I am a vision impaired athlete from New Zealand. In 1987 at the age of eight I was diagnosed with an eye condition called Stagardts which robbed me of all of my central vision. I am now left with just 5% vision but this has not stopped me wanting to strive for the achieve the best results on the track. In 2004 I won the Gold medal at the Athens Paralympic Games over 800 metres for vision impaired (T13) athletes. In 2002 I won the Gold medal at the World championships in the same event. In New Zealand I compete against regular fully sighted athletes and finshed 6th at this years National Track & Field Champs over 1500 metres.
