Huffpo Readers Raise Thousands for Blind Family

Since the Huffington Post featured the story of a mother who shares a rare disorder that causes blindness with her daughters, the site has raised almost $30,000 to help the family pay its crushing medical bills. Though the family is covered through the father's insurance, up to 80 percent of treatment related to the rare disease, called Stickler syndrome, is not covered. Monique Zimmerman-Stein began forgoing an injection that would help slow her vision loss—so that her daughters could get better care. A few months ago, Stein suffered a stroke, possibly caused by stress, the Huffington Post reported on its Impact page. For three days in the hospital, she was charged $5,000, after insurance. "It just wrenches your gut to think that we live in such a great country but people can't get the medical care they need and that they have to make decisions on what bills to pay, what things to forgo," she said.