12-year-old Christopher Ward Jr. was born with optic nerve hypolasia, which is the underdevelopment or the complete absence of the optic nerve, making him legally blind from his time of birth. To watch TV at home he can’t be more than a few inches from the screen, in which case he still isn’t making the images out clearly, and he’s never had the ability to make people out, even if they’re in the same room as him. Namely, his mother, Marquita Hackley.
A new, experimental headset called eSight changed all that recently. eSight, currently priced at $15,000, is powered by a high-speed camera translates real life images to an LED screen tailored to deliver “unprecedented visual clarity” to its user. In this case, it was Mr. Ward Jr., who put on the glasses for ABC News cameras, and was able to see his mother for the first time, exclaiming “I can see your hair!” shortly after looking at her. Naturally, the moment was an emotional one for all involved, and you can watch footage of how it transpired above, including a cool clip of Ward Jr. pretty easily making out numbers off an eye chart being held up across the room.
Hackley is currently accepting donations to help her and her son meet the $15,000 eSight price tag, and they’re just about halfway there. More information on her mission here.
