Legally Blind Boy Sees His Mother For The First Time With New Technology

Christopher Ward, Jr. is a fifth grader that has been legally blind his whole life. He was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, meaning his optic nerve never fully developed before birth.

This means that Christopher can only see things if they’re up very close. His mother, Marquita Hackley, 32, added that he has extremely low vision in his right eye and his left eye has a little perception.




Hackley said the following to ABC News today:


“Something has to be up in his face, almost touching for him to see it,” she said. “And even though Ward wears glasses on a daily basis, they’re more for protection than vision because there is a strong possibility he could lose the little sight he does have if were to get hurt or hit on the face.”

Ward and his family traveled to Washington, D.C. to demo a new wearable technology called eSight.


eSight’s hands-free headset contains a small, high-speed camera that captures live video, which is sent to a LED screen in front of the user’s eyes, allowing them to see with “unprecedented visual clarity,” according to eSight’s website.

For the first time in his 12 year-old life, was able to see his mommy. The moment was emotional and overwhelming for his mother.


           

Hackley is now raising money to buy eSight for her son, she said, explaining that the glasses cost $15,000 and her insurance doesn’t cover it.

Because of the media coverage, donations have began to pour in and hopefully Christopher will be able to see more of the world has to offer in the future.