A 12-year-old legally blind boy can now see his mom, thanks to electronic glasses.
Christopher Ward, Jr. has optic nerve hypoplasia, a condition in which eye muscles did not fully develop, making him legally blind. Because of his condition, Chris cannot clearly see his mother, Marquita Hackley, or anything that is not within 5 inches from his eyes, not until online donations came in and he was able to use electronic glasses developed by eSight.
On a daily basis, Chris wears regular eyeglasses, not to see things clearly but to protect his eyes from possible accidents because of his poor vision.
A few weeks ago, Hackley brought her son to Washington to try the wearable tech by eSight, which has previously helped a mother see her newborn son for the first time.
The electronic glasses can help individuals with low vision caused by several conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, ocular albinism, optic atrophy and optic nerve hyperplasia, according to eSight's website.
"Once I could see my mom through those glasses for the first time, I was smiling," said Chris during the demo.
Hackley said she was elated that Chris could finally appreciate his surroundings.
However, the $15,000 price tag was too much for the mother-and-son duo, so Hackley asked for help by creating a crowdfunding page for her son.
In the donation page, Hackley shared the struggles that her son had to face because of the condition. Hackley said Chris could not read normal-sized prints and had to learn Braille for him to attend school.
As of posting time, Hackley has been able to raise more than $25,000 to give her son electronic glasses. Despite almost doubling the goal, Hackley said she reopened the page since a lot of people have been sending her emails because they want to donate to their cause.
You can watch the video below.
