![]() ![]() So I have to be able to function 100% just like they do. I've always been big on fitness and working out, things like that, but I lost about, I don't know, 25 pounds got myself in really great shape and got a portfolio together and then got an agent in Dallas and have gone back to work.Īnd have really found not just modeling, because I don't necessarily do it just as a visually handicapped person, I compete in the regular market with other fitness models and with everybody. And so that's when I decided to go back to modeling. I want to be productive, I want to do my thing. So now what do I do? I don't want to just sit at home in the dark. I couldn't be a nurse anymore, the kids are grown and gone. But kind of came to a point where I had to redefine myself. And so finally I lost enough of my sight where I just kind of made the leap and live more or less in that world, as a visually handicapped person. But it was really frustrating to live in between the two worlds, in between the sighted and visually handicapped world. Well, as you know, with RP, it's progressive, it takes. And so I did lots of things, everything from learn to read braille, I went to school for the blind in Austin and got some mobility training and computer skills and everything else I thought I needed so I would just be ready when it happened. I didn't understand and I had to learn a whole lot about RP and the prognosis, and really begin to prepare myself for the darkness that was coming. And he said, "Well, I need you to take a good look at the face of that baby, because you'll never see him as a man." And that was a really hard day. He was a newborn and I had been to see the doctor because things were just. And the sobering diagnosis was when I was holding my third born son. My husband's a physician, so we did mission work and I raised three boys.īut in the process in my early thirties, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. And in the process of doing that, I've lived overseas in many different countries practicing nursing and medicine. But then once I got into nursing and became an operating room nurse, I kind of put modeling to the side and then had my family and raised them. And really enjoyed it, had a lot of fun doing it, did commercials for Radio Shack and Sears, JC Penny, some good big names, so I had a lot of fun doing it. Well, I am actually a registered nurse by education and during nursing school is when I started doing a little modeling while I was in Dallas. ![]() And just let us know about how you got started and your background. Just tell us a little bit about your story, I think we should start there. So, Catherine, what I want go ahead is there's so many places we can go together because we've talked about so many things, but I just want everybody to get. We were just talking about Texas being open, so we're all going to catch a flight and go there afterwards. I'm so glad you're hanging out with us today. And when I think of Catherine, I just, she just makes me smile and I've never met somebody that has motivated me in the short time we've known each other as much as she has. TranscriptĪ fitness model and she is just absolutely amazing and such an advocate. Her mission is not only to successfully work as a model who happens to have a visual impairment, but to empower women of all ages to step into their strength, regardless of their circumstances, with poise and courage. She has been a national public speaker and article writer for several magazines, sharing her story of learning to walk with strength and faith behind a white cane. When her eyesight worsened to the degree she could no longer be effective in nursing, she forged a new career path that has blossomed. She was diagnosed in 1995 with retinitis pigmentosa, only weeks after returning from serving for two years on the mission field in Nigeria. Today, Melody's guest is Catherine Harrison, a professional commercial print and fitness model.Ĭatherine was a Registered Nurse prior to her sight loss. Inform & Connect, the American Foundation for the Blind’s ongoing series created to foster togetherness and camaraderie within the blindness community through informal storytelling and learning about relevant, interesting topics. ![]()
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