[nfb-talk] Utah Woman is 'Blind No More'

Wed Feb 14 07:19:04 CST 2007

I think it's amazing that an agency, through rehab services, paid for 
something like this.  I wonder how many blind people have had to go without 
equipment or services they need, because the money has been spent on this 
woman's surgery?

Another question I had, while reading the article...how long ago did this 
surgery take place?  It had to be quite awhile, since she now knows how to 
read and teach her son music...read print books to her children and ride a 
bike!  (I can ride a bike and I'm totally blind.)

There was no link to contact the reporter.  I wish there had been.

Cindy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <tjcarter at bluecherry.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 10:40 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Utah Woman is 'Blind No More'

I think I'd use it full-time most likely.  So um, this woman never moved
about before?  I thought it was her eyes that didn't work.  Apparently
they also rebuilt her legs.  Oh well.

On Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 10:18:09AM -0600, Alan Wheeler wrote:
> Boy, wouldn't it be nice if JAWS *DID* have a sarcasm mode. LOL!
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Aaron Cannon
> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 9:10 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [nfb-talk] Utah Woman is 'Blind No More'
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Oh boy... here we go.  Another helpless soul has managed to throw off the
> shackles of darkness and doom.  (In case you missed it, press insert 
> control
> shift s to put Jaws into sarcasm mode, and reread the previous sentence.)
>
>
> http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=888609
>
> Utah Woman is 'Blind No More'
> February 12th, 2007 @ 10:00pm
>
> Ed Yeates Reporting
>
> A 35-year-old woman who was born blind can see tonight, thanks to a
> remarkable surgery performed in Utah.
>
> Though Kristen O'Neil had been told it couldn't be done, she now is blind 
> no
> more. Ed Yeates shows us more in tonight's special report.
>
> Kristen O'Neil's blindness would have looked something like this: Even in
> full light, a person in front of her would appear as a moving sheet of
> nothing.
>
>
> Ophthalmologist Dr. Alan Crandall describes it this way:
>
> Alan Crandall, M.D., Ophthalmologist: "Just one sheet. No distinguishing
> factors. [She] couldn't tell where your coat ended, your tie started, none
> of it.
> It would all be gone."
>
> But at the State Health Department cafeteria where she works with her
> husband, who is also blind, Kristen now moves about. She is no longer 
> blind!
>
> "I was told by doctors all my life that they couldn't fix it."
>
> Fix what? Kristen was born with extremely small eyes. A section of her 
> iris
> was missing, and what was there was dislocated, so light couldn't go 
> through
> the center of her pupil.
>
> Part of her retina was missing, from the front all the way to back of the
> eye. The eye lens was dislocated. She was also born with cataracts,
> complicated by the size of her eyes. By the time she was 14, they 
> resembled
> those of an 80-year-old.
>
> Though impossible 10 years ago, Kristen's eyes now have literally been
> rebuilt!
>
> "I was able to see the mountains for the first time. See across a field, 
> and
> see buildings across there. That was really cool."
>
> Kristen O'Neil: "Being able to interact with people and be able to look at
> them face-to-face and eye-to-eye and have a conversation with them is 
> really
> great."
>
> At the Eye Institute of Utah, Dr. Alan Crandall removed the cataracts. 
> Then
> he began reshaping things. He made Kristen a new iris by implanting an
> artificial plastic iris right into her eye sac. Specially designed lenses
> were also implanted to make up for the abnormally small eye. Both of
> Kristen's eyes were rebuilt.
>
> Dr. Crandall: "She should not lose what she has now. She should just
> continue to improve over time."
>
> At home Kristen reads comfortably to her kids, a simple pleasure she 
> savors
> now. And for her son...
>
> "Being able to read his music and teach him how to read music was probably
> the best, and interacting with the kids."
>
> Jim O'Neil, Kristen's Husband: "I'm just glad Dr. Crandall could help at
> least one of us. I was a little bit worried at first because I've been
> through a lot of eye surgeries and none have worked out for me."
>
> But Jim O'Neil says the surgical magic came through for his wife, with
> colors, hues, and detail.
>
> "Being able to ride my bike, take my kids for rides and stuff with me."
>
> Dr. Crandall: "The fact that she can ride a bike is pretty amazing. To me,
> that's amazing."
>
> Kristen's vision is not perfect, but it's good. Blind she is no more. With
> her delightful sense of humor she says, "It was really, I guess you would
> say, eye opening."
>
> The Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired paid for
> Kristen's remarkable surgery through its rehab program.
>
> For more information, read Lois Collins' story in tomorrow's Deseret 
> Morning
> News and check the link above.
>
>
>
> Aaron
>
>
> - --
> Skype: cannona
> MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona at hotmail.com (don't send email to the 
> hotmail
> address.)
>
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