News Releases
Valparaiso Law staff member recognized as women's health champion
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Valparaiso Law staff member who has taken a leading role in educating people about vision health is being recognized as a health champion.
Paige Reichardt, associate administrator in the Valparaiso University School of Law dean’s office, has been named the Speaking of Women’s Health Champion of Northwest Indiana. She will be recognized during the region’s annual Speaking of Women’s Health Conference on May 15.
Speaking of Women’s Health Champions are honored for their outstanding work supporting women’s health, well-being and personal safety and for serving as role models in enhancing the quality of life in Northwest Indiana in a health-related field.
Over the past two and a half years, Reichardt has become a prominent advocate for educating people about the risks of Acanthamoeba keratitis – an aggressive parasitic infection that most often afflicts people who wear contacts – and raising funds for research and prevention.
She contracted the eye infection in 2005, then endured four surgeries over five weeks that removed pieces of her eye bit by bit in an attempt to stop the disease’s progress. Doctors finally had to remove her eye completely to prevent the infection from spreading into her brain.
“That contacts could be dangerous was the furthest thing from my mind,” she said.
During the course of her ordeal, Reichardt decided to do whatever she could to help others afflicted with the disease. She helped establish MAAD (Mothers Against Acanthamoeba Disease) and a Web forum through Prevent Blindness America to promote awareness of the disease and provide support to victims.
For the past two years, Reichardt also has met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., as a member of Eyes on Capitol Hill delegations sponsored by Prevent Blindness America and Prevent Blindness Indiana. During those visits, Reichardt told her story and asked lawmakers to support vision research and disease prevention.
She’s also helped raised funds through Prevent Blindness Indiana to provide vision screening equipment to HealthLink (formerly Hilltop Community Health Center) clinics in Valparaiso and Michigan City, which serve low-income families in nine Northwest Indiana countries.
The Speaking of Women’s Health awards are presented annually by Lakeshore Public Television. A video featuring Reichardt’s story will be shown during the conference and her biography will appear in the conference program.
“It’s an honor to be recognized, and I hope I can be a model for others who see that I didn’t just sit back when this infection hit me, but instead worked to make sure other people wouldn’t suffer that same tragedy,” Reichardt said.
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