I always love to read a heart-warming story. To me there is nothing greater than when family comes together during a hard time. That is exactly what two brothers did. Meet Bradford Manning and Bryan Manning.
They own the clothing company “Two Blind Brothers” in NYC. The both live with a disease called Stargardt disease. This is an eye disease that is also known as juvenile macular degeneration.
Stargardt affects the retina of the eye. The retina is responsible for sensing light. Individuals with this disease lose sight in the center of their eyes and only have peripheral vision. Most people who have this disease, lose their vision in their adolescent years. Research estimates that about 1 in 10,000 have Stargardt disease.
Bradford and Bryan Manning are your typical brothers. They give each other a hard time about everything. They do like to hang out together, of course, but while they are out shopping together they get lost from one another often. They describe their shopping technique as “shopping with five year olds.” They touch everything and are both drawn to soft materials.
The idea for the business came about after a shopping trip to the mall. Bryan and Bradford said they did get lost from each other as they normally do and made purchases separately. Once outside, they realized they bought the exact same soft shirt. Of course as competitive brothers, one had to return the shirt. After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors it was decided that Bryan lost and had to return his shirt.
After this experience Bryan and Bradford realized that they can use their gift of touch to help others in need. They decided to make a line of clothing that would be appealing to individuals with vision loss.
