Blind Man Sees Again

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

11 Aug 2009 06:50 PM

I heard this story on the radio this morning, and had to check the local news to be sure: a local legally blind man experienced a miraculous return of his vision!

Ninety year old Tualatin, Oregon resident Marty Alvey has been legally blind for years, thanks to macular degeneration -- a loss of vision in the center of the eye that is a major cause of blindness in older adults. He could only see things that were a foot or less away.

All that changed over the weekend. On Saturday night, Alvey felt ill and called 911, fearing a stroke. An ambulance took him to the hospital for treatment and he realized he could actually see the doctor -- at a distance. He chose to leave the hospital, rather than stay for more testing. He told KATU News that he didn't sleep for the rest of the weekend (whether from excitement or fear of his vision going away again, I don't know).

On Monday, Alvey was seen by retina specialists from Kaiser Permanente. Doctors had no explanation for the return of Alvey's vision -- there were no physical changes to the eyes that could account for the miraculous vision improvement. And there's no way of knowing if Alvey's vision will revert to its former state.

In the meantime, Alvey is taking advantage of his returned vision. Over the weekend, he hung pictures around the house. He's making travel plans and hopes to literally see his great-great-grandson. Family and friends are calling the return of Alvey's vision a miracle, and are hoping for an explanation for the phenomenon. If doctors can figure out why it happened, maybe they can keep Alvey seeing for good. Before Alvey, the Kaiser Permanente doctors had never heard of someone with macular degeneration experiencing such a dramatic return of vision.

Alvey told NewsChannel 8 Portland that "if it only lasts another minute, I have had the best blessing of my life."

Personally, I hope it lasts a lifetime.

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