CALGARY- A Calgary student is hoping an innovative internet campaign will help fund her education.
The website RCKTSHP was set up to allow people to contribute to a student’s debt or upcoming tuition costs, by using crowd funding. 22-year-old Ashley King is one of the people who has signed up—and has a compelling reason.
King went blind three years ago, after falling victim to methanol poisoning. She was having a drink at a tourist bar in Indonesia, when she unknowingly drank unfiltered alcohol.
“I woke up the next morning and it was dark. I blamed it on poor light,” King remembers. “I got out of bed, I couldn’t breathe. As time went on my vision just got darker and darker and darker.”
She adds that she couldn’t grasp at the time that she was about to lose her vision.
“I was in denial. I thought ‘it’ll be fine’ but as time went on I was angry and sad,” she says. “I think I still don’t believe it, I forget I’m blind sometimes.”
King suffered irreparable damage to her eyes, but it hasn’t wavered the journalism student’s pursuit of education. Due to school responsibilities she hasn’t been able to get a job to offset tuition costs, so she expects to be $16,000 in debt by the time she graduates.
She hopes her online campaign will motivate others to start their own campaigns.
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