This month’s spotlight Brambletonian is Dr. Meera Sutaria of InSight Eye Optique. She told us about her upcoming Ride to Conquer Cancer, why she enjoys optometry and her five-year-old’s favorite thing about Brambleton.
You have a big ride coming up. Can you tell us about The Ride to Conquer Cancer?
The Ride to Conquer Cancer is a two-day, 150-mile cycling tour on September 19 and 20 to raise money for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and other local area hospitals. We start at RFK Stadium on Saturday and ride up into Maryland, camp out overnight, then ride back on Sunday. It’s going to be an amazing experience for an amazing cause.
What drives you to participate in the charity ride?
Cancer is near to my heart because my niece was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was just three years old. She went through over two years of treatment and we are blessed to say that she’s now a bubbly girl who just started third grade. Just seeing the hardship that she went through, along with my brother and sister-in-law, motivated me to join this ride. I am doing this charity ride for my niece and all of the other friends and family members affected by this disease. My husband, Harsh, and his brother-in-law and nephew are also riding with me.
How can people donate to support your mission?
The best way to donate is to go online and donate through our Rider Pages. It’s quick and easy and all donations are tax deductible. [Editor’s note: Check out Dr. Sutaria’s page here and her husband’s page here.]
You’re also involved in the community as an optometrist at InSight Eye Optique. What do you love about your job?
What I love most about my job is getting to help people right here in our community. From the child getting her first pair of glasses so that she can see the board at school to the mom whose baby scratched her eye and needs medical attention, we are able help people of all ages with their eye and vision needs. I love being an optometrist because I can instantly see how my expertise and care can improve someone’s quality of life. I love educating patients about their vision and their eye health and providing them with the best products available to maximize their vision. A big reason for starting my own practice was being able to take the time with each of my patients to get to know them and their families personally so that I can offer the best vision correction and eye health recommendations for their specific needs.
What do you like about the Brambleton community?
I love Brambleton! Not only is the setting beautiful, but also the people are amazingly nice and wonderful. Most of my patients are from right here in the community and will even recognize each other in the office and stop to chat together. Our favorite activities are the Halloween Trick-or-Treating and the Red, White, and BRAM summer festival! My five-year-old loves Go Bananas and Sweet Frog, of course. Brambleton is a warm and inviting community and we are so lucky to have had the opportunity to open our practice here.
When you’re not working or training, what keeps you busy?
Definitely my kids! My daughter will be five in a few weeks and is starting kindergarten this year. My son is almost 18 months and is a little ball of energy. We like to spend time as a family exploring the northern Virginia area and travelling to visit other family members.
Humans of Brambleton is our blog feature that focuses on one of the many interesting personalities who calls Brambleton home. If you’re interested in being a future Human of Brambleton, email us at brambletoninfo@gmail.com.
