Siblings See the Light
Two young brothers and sister born with cataracts gain the gift of sight.
For seven years, Geneviève served as a guide to the blind. It's not a job she would have chosen for herself and she couldn't leave it behind at the end of the day. This job became part of her life since the birth of her first son, Alexis. Two other children followed, and, at birth, all three had bilateral cataracts. It was up to Geneviève to provide round-the-clock care for her blind children.
Going anywhere used to be an ordeal. Geneviève had to strap one-year-old Ricardo on her back while holding fast with each hand to three-year-old Nadège and seven-year-old Alexis. Her children had to be guided down steps, into doorways, around potholes, and protected against common household hazards such as coal stoves or boiling water.
Geneviève and her husband tried to get help for their children. They once visited a nearby hospital but could not even consider the expensive cataract operations. Naturally, Geneviève wondered what would become of her children in a country that makes no provision for blindness.
One day, they heard on the radio about free operations done onboard a Mercy Ship…
The children went through the screening process and all received appointments for immediate surgeries. Hope of successful surgery was highest for three-year-old Nadège; she had not been blind long enough for permanent damage to occur, yet her eyes were developed enough for the new lens to fit well. Ship's doctors expressed concern for Alexis: children past their seventh birthday often suffer permanent damage from cataracts because the optic nerve has never developed and the brain simply adjusts to the state of blindness. On the other hand, baby Ricardo's eyes hadn't developed enough yet, so would replacement lenses fit correctly?
The following morning, one by one, the bandages came off…
Nadège came first. Her parents’ hearts started to beat faster. Suddenly, Nadège grabbed the doll held out in front of her and said, "Baby, baby!" She could see! Not waiting any longer, and filled with hope, they turned to their oldest son Alexis. Immediately he could see and play with toys on the floor! Finally, Ricardo’s bandages came off. For some time, he lay with his eyes squeezed shut. But at last, he opened one eye and glanced around. He reached out to his mother, the one whose voice he knew. Now he could see her for the first time!
