When 48-year-old Mary Sedgwick was diagnosed as being legally blind back in 2003, she likely thought that she would never be able to see the face of her loved ones again. However, thanks to advances in medical science, this was not the case!
Mary was a fourth year medical student in 1997 when her eyesight began to deteriorate.
She was ultimately diagnosed with bilateral optic neuritis. This meant that during her residency as an aspiring doctor, Ms. Sedgwick suffered from dizziness, double vision, and eye pain.
She would ultimately be diagnosed as legally blind in 2003.
This meant that her dreams of becoming a practicing doctor had to be put on hold. She attended North Carolina Vocational School for the Blind, where she learned how to read braille and other life skills that are critical for the blind.
Her life really turned around, however, when she received her guide dog.
Lucy and Mary have now been together for 9 years, and Mary’s life would not be the same without her.
On her website , Mary wrote, “I would not be as mobile, confident or free to enjoy the life I do have without her.”
The pair are near inseparable, and recently, Mary was granted the ability to see her furry friend for the first time ever!
Mary eventually found the courage to try a pair of eSight electronic glasses.
She explained the way that this fancy pair of eye-wear work: “The glasses house a high-speed, high-definition camera that captures everything you’re looking at and shows it on two, near-to-your-eye displays.
“Medical algorithms enhance the footage so you can see in real-time. These glasses restored some of my remaining residual vision.”
Using the pioneering glasses, Mary was able to see the face of her beloved Lucy for the first time.
The glasses meant that Mary could finally look into Lucy’s eyes.
In an interview with ABC , Mary described how the experience made her feel.
“I just, I could believe how amazing, beautiful, and soulful eyes she has,” she said. “It was everything that I had dreamed she had looked like. The love in her eyes matched the love that I knew for eight years now.”
The heartwarming video was uploaded to YouTube and quickly went viral.
It shows Mary becoming overwhelmed with emotion by the moment, and breaking down into tears as she embraces her sweet pup.
She can be heard saying, “Oh God, Lucy, you got the most beautiful eyes, Lucy.”
After being so moved by the experience, Mary set up a fundraising page to purchase a pair of the glasses.
One pair can cost around $10, 000, so they’re definitely a pricey purchase. But they’re also a worthwhile investment that will make a blind person’s life infinitely more enjoyable.
Mary has since managed to raise the money required, and now devotes her time trying to spread the gift of sight to others who are in need. She has continued to fundraise for other blind people in need to own their own pair of eSight glasses.
Her website has currently raised over $14,000 for her cause!
You can donate to Mary’s campaign on her website .
So far, the campaign has managed to get a pair of the glasses for another fortunate person, and Mary is hoping to help more in the future.
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It is amazing what medical science can achieve, and hopefully Mary’s charity will be able to help provide more people with the gift of sight.
Below, you can watch the truly touching video of Mary seeing Lucy for the first time.
It’s difficult to imagine not being able to see the faces of those we love most in the world, but that’s the reality that blind people must face. Anything that can be done to help this kind of wonderful technology be more readily available to people is a fantastic cause to get behind.
h/t: ABC
