The Blind See
Literally in the ‘blink of an eye’ on an ordinary family day, with Mum in the kitchen and Dad in his workshop, everything changed.
My brother and I were energetically running around the garden playing as kids do. He was five and I was six years old. My brother was running along, wielding a stick, when I suddenly stopped and turned towards him. The stick in his hand penetrated and splintered in my left eye.
From then on, I have no recollection other than what my mother told me.
Firstly, what she found amazing, was the fact that I went straight to my bed, lay down and fell asleep with a splintered piece of stick visibly protruding from my eye. I have wondered, if that was because of pressure on the optic nerve that made me sleep. Nevertheless, it was incredible.
My parents raised the emergency, and it was all systems go. They transported me straight to the hospital. Dr Chait, my attending specialist, was waiting at the door to rush me in. Dr Chait, both a well-known and highly respected Ophthalmic specialist, explained to my parents that after removing the splinter, my eye would need to be removed. The damage was extensive and the infection, secondary to the trauma, was fulminating so quickly it would spread to both eyes. He said, for this reason there was a risk of me losing sight in both eyes, so he would therefore need to remove the damaged eye. This was a surgical procedure known as an enucleation. My parents were horrified.
My specialist further told them he had booked the theatre for first thing the next morning for the removal of my eye and that he was prescribing a very heavy course of antibiotics to be given intravenously overnight to try and overcome the infection. Dr Chait explained to my parents a prosthetic glass eye would be used later for cosmetic reconstruction. My mother was so traumatized by his statement and found no consolation in it at all. She adamantly rejected the idea of a glass eye and with fiery faith she responded, “My God can heal eyes!”
My father, on the other hand, was asking if there was any way he could donate his eye. He could not believe his little girl was going to lose her eye. My Dad just wanted to fix things.
My parents sat at my bedside, held my hands, and prayed. My mother also phoned her friend Jean Butler and asked her to pray. Together in faith, they prayed through the wee hours of that long and torturous night. They petitioned heaven with tears, calling on the promises of God they had read in the bible. When the doctor arrived, he examined me and said, “Unbelievable! What an amazing recovery since I saw your daughter last night. We will defer the surgery until later to see if there is a remote possibility that we will not have to remove the eye. However, you have to understand that your daughter will be completely blind in that eye."
On each consecutive visit my eye improved. Progressively his prognosis changed too. On the day of my discharge he said, “Miraculously, she may have partial vision in that eye.” I left the hospital with a patch on my left eye and several scheduled follow up appointments.
My healing continued and he was continuously amazed.
Six years later my mother accompanied my grandmother to an appointment with my eye specialist. When Dr Chait came into the waiting room, he stood there shook his head, called his partner and pointing at my mother, he said, “This is the mother of that child I told you about with the miracle eye.”
Dr Chait asked my mother to bring me in for a review when I was 21 years of age. That day came, and once again he was astounded and said to me, “My girl you have 20/20 vision and if you need clearance for a pilot's license, I can give it to you. You are a walking miracle!”
Lastly, when I was 31 years old, I had my own son who needed his vision checked. I decided I would look up Dr Chait. He was now in his 80s and about to hang up his stethoscope and retire. The old man looked at me, went over to his Kardex file and pulled out an old, yellowed card. He waved his notes about my case at me and said, “My girl that was a terrible eye injury. I will never forget that, ever!
Prayer was answered. The word of God says, “He makes the blind to see.” And as you now know, he did it for me.
Tea anyone?
Ann’s Story