An Indy teen going blind laments missing life's big moments. So her friends threw her a wedding.

Binghui Huang, Indianapolis Star
Updated ·6 min read

Abby Turner cried to her friends in her University of Indianapolis dorm when she found out that an inherited disease might soon steal the last bit of sight left in her eyes.

She might never see her own wedding, she said. Never see her husband's face. Never see her children laugh or cry or be surprised. Never see in person so many places she's seen on TV. Turner, who grew up on Indy's northside, was diagnosed around four years ago with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that slowly limits field of vision. Since then, she's gone from having no peripheral vision to just a sliver of vision, like looking through a pinhole, she said. And in October, she found out she might not hold on to that last bit of vision, a hope she clung to in her teenage years.

She was all of 19 and her adult life was just starting.

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Only a college sophomore, she had hoped to see so much of the world across the Atlantic Ocean: Italy, Germany, Scotland, Paris. She had planned to road trip across America, enjoying the scenery as it changes from tropical beaches to majestic mountains to prairie lands to scorching desserts and back to beaches.

Most of all, she had wanted to see her own life unfold.

Her friends couldn't change the trajectory of her diagnosis, but they wanted to give her the experiences for which she longed.

"Bro, Let's have a wedding!!" her best friend Lauren Bobko proposed. "Let's get married so you can see your wedding!"

Lauren Bobko (left), and friend Abigail Turner on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Turner’s dorm room on the University of Indianapolis campus. Turner has Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that contracts her vision to a small spot at the center of her vision.
Lauren Bobko (left), and friend Abigail Turner on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Turner’s dorm room on the University of Indianapolis campus. Turner has Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that contracts her vision to a small spot at the center of her vision.

About a week later, with their friends as the officiant and bridesmaids, they got "married" in the common area of their dorm. Turner wore a black floral-patterned ballgown and a white veil over her blue-purple dyed hair. Bobko wore her mom's mermaid-shaped wedding dress. They ate supermarket sheet cake. They did the Cha Cha Slide. They giggled through the ceremony, but it was serious as well.

"It was realistic of what it could be like," said her friend Sarah Shanklin. "So, for her to see the visuals of everything so eventually when she does have her own wedding, she has these images in her mind."

Then came the scramble to fill in all the other gaps: the major life moments, the unforgettable trips.Turner's friends and family rushed to create memories she can revisit when she loses her ability to make new ones.

Right after her initial diagnosis during a routine eye exam, her family took her on a cruise.

"When we were on the cruise we'd get up early and go watch the sunrise and we'd make sure we went out and watch the sunset," said Turner's mom Angel Hillman. "I want her to have all these things in her head to be able to see so then when she can't see, she can remember those things."

Traveling

Turner's friend Allison Dininger launched a GoFundMe to raise money so she can go on trips. They planned a spring break trip to Gatlinburg, a mountain town at the bottom of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

Traveling makes Turner feel free, a break from the stresses of life.

She remembers the thrill of independence when she went out on her own in London last summer.

"I don't have to be blind. I don't have to be stuck," she said. "Like I could just do anything in the world."

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Her mom wants that for her as well. Since Turner was in high school at Franklin Central, Hillman taught her daughter how to use Uber and Lyft and encouraged her to explore places on her own or with her friends.

"We don't hover," Hillman said of her, her stepfather and her dad. "We don't treat her like she can't do anything. I want her to be independent."

Turner's travel wish list is long.

As a history buff, she dreams of visiting castles where her favorite monarchs ruled.

"I'm pretty obsessed with Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I and King Henry King Henry VIII," she said.

Gatlinburg

But first she has some more local travel in mind. On Monday, Turner will arrive in Gatlinburg for a weeklong trip with three of her friends for the University of Indianapolis's spring break.

Abigail Turner (middle), hands out plates on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Turner’s dorm room on the University of Indianapolis campus. The college friends are having a regular hangout, and are about to share a pizza. Turner has Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that contracts her vision to a small spot at the center of her vision.
Abigail Turner (middle), hands out plates on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Turner’s dorm room on the University of Indianapolis campus. The college friends are having a regular hangout, and are about to share a pizza. Turner has Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that contracts her vision to a small spot at the center of her vision.

They plan to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains, where there's a good chance they will catch at least a glimpse of black bears and cubs.

Turner is also psyched to see the lesser-known Alcatraz East Crime Museum, where she plans to satisfy her morbid curiosity about some of America's most infamous criminals. She plans to see the temporary Bonnie and Clyde exhibit about the outlaws who robbed gas stations, restaurants and small-town banks during the Great Depression and who are suspected of killing more than a dozen people. She also wants to see serial killer John Wayne Gacy's clown suit.

"I know this is gonna make me sound bad but I love true crime," she said.

A subconscious guide

Turner's story isn't just an inspiring example of one person's resilience and ability to enjoy life while battling a disabling health problem, but also about friendships carrying people through tough times. Retinitis pigmentosa affects some 100,000 people in the United States, but most of them are not diagnosed with the disease until they are in their mid to late thirties.

On a recent Wednesday evening, Turner and about nine of her friends squeezed into a small dorm room and passed around pizza and chocolate chip cookies.

Lavita Johnson, Jana Ruiz-Alvarado, and Sarah Shanklin have a laugh over pizza in the dorm room of Abigail Turner on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, on the University of Indianapolis campus. Turner has Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that contracts her vision to a small spot at the center of her vision.
Lavita Johnson, Jana Ruiz-Alvarado, and Sarah Shanklin have a laugh over pizza in the dorm room of Abigail Turner on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, on the University of Indianapolis campus. Turner has Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease that contracts her vision to a small spot at the center of her vision.

The young women talk about everything, amused and excited: how Kellogg falsely touted the benefits of its cereals by manipulating a scientific study; the feud between Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj; the lemongrass curry dish in the dining hall far exceeding expectations and the role playing game Mafia.

"The way I'd be killing you all," jokes Lavita Johnson."Stabbed and drowned!" someone responds as the volume in the small dorm room rises. But in reality, Johnson and the others look out for Turner, wherever and whenever they can. When they walk together, they steer her clear of potholes and poles.

"I always find myself subconsciously guiding you," Johnson said to her.

Johnson, Bobko and a third friend will join Turner on her five-day tour of Gatlinburg in what she hopes will be the first of many trips.

"People get old and they retire, and then they travel because then they have the money to do it," she said. "But I don't have the time to get old and retire and then go travel because I'm not gonna be able to see it."

Binghui Huang can be reached at 317-385-1595 and Bhuang@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Abby Turner may soon go blind. She's trying to see as much as she can.