"A standing ovation! Oh my goodness, did I hear the commentator say a standing ovation?"

Felix stood in awe as tears of joy streamed down his cheeks.

His mother and father went up to the podium, hugged and kissed him. Achieving this feat came with a lot of hurdles and means so much to him. He held tightly to his parents and mouthed thank you repeatedly for a spell of time.

He was 10 years old when his incessant complaints of inability to see in the dark prompted his parents to take him to an eye doctor.

The doctor after a detailed examination informed his parents that he had a hereditary eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa. The variant he had was an aggressive type and his parents were advised to prepare him for a non-sighted life in the future. Though he was young then, he was able to appreciate the compassion and empathy of the doctor.

His parents, God bless them, researched widely and adhered to the instructions they were given by the doctor.

He was taken to the clinic regularly as scheduled. As his vision worsened, the doctor introduced him to low vision devices. He used magnifiers, telescopes and other tech apps for people with low vision through secondary school. He was also introduced to braille then while partially sighted. That gave him a head start and he learnt quickly.

By his final year in secondary school he had lost all vision.

The career guidance the family was given then, helped his parents to guide him to study education in the University.The past 5 years were fun and full of interesting learning techniques.

Through it all, he always kept in mind what the doctor tells him at every of his hospital visits. “Felix you can achieve great things even with poor vision”

And today he has truly achieved great things. He bagged a first class degree in education hence the standing ovation.

How can he possibly thank his parents for their unflinching support and unconditional love?

How can he thank the kind doctor for letting him know he could be great even with a blinding eye disease?

How can he thank everyone? There are too many to thank individually.

A collective thank you would do he concluded.

Felix bowed and simply said thank you, to more applause.

• Some eye conditions may eventually lead to blindness despite medical treatment
• Visual disability is not the end of the road
• Rehabilitation services for blind individuals are available
• A blind person can achieve a lot with the right care and support

#Give hope

#Rehabilitate

#Bevisionsmart

World disability day

By Dr. Mary Ugalahi

Dec 3, 2019