Blind Man Given Sight After Being Born Blind 23 Years Ago
Thursday, March 13 2008
On January 13th 2008, an experimental procedure took place in Washington to give sight to a 23 year old man who had been blind since birth. This would be the first time a successful operation gave sight to a human being who has never seen before.
Among the skepticism whether the operation would be a success, many questions were answered the day of the surgery. The process involved fusing the portion of the eye directly to the frontal lobe in the brain, which had been damaged during birth. This process would give the patient 100% of their vision for the first time ever in surgical history.
"I did not know what to expect," said patient Alex Davis. "People have always tried to describe sight to me, but it was something you just can not explain." On the day of the surgery, the questions Alex had would all be answered.
Two days after surgery the protective patches were taken off as many family members sat around in suspense to see what would happen next. Alex described the first sensation as pain and fear saying that the feeling was at first so intense it was overwhelming.
"It felt like my face was burning," says Alex during the unveiling. "I would have never imagined sight to be like this. I was scared at what I saw and could not believe myself or what was going on. It was not until I heard the voices of my family until I began to calm down."
After the initial panic subsided, Alex soon began therapy to train his newly found senses. He still has difficulty identifying objects by sight, but as soon as he is allowed to hold them and feel them he can recognize them instantly. A feeling that the majority of the population can not even begin to imagine.
Alex continues to attend therapy 3 times a week and will do so for the next 6 months. As for this medical breakthrough, doctors hope that the research obtained from this will lead them to many more successful operations in the near future.
-Greg Wilton, reporter