Fifth grader Chris Ward is considered legally blind but was able to see his mother for the first time thanks to electronic glasses.
Ward's eyes never fully developed, so he is forced to do homework using a Braille typewriter and calculations for math using an abacus.
Recently Marquita Hackley, Ward's mother, travelled to Washington, D.C., to try electronic glasses called eSight.
According to the eSight website, the device is a wearable, hands-free headset that houses a small, high-speed camera that captures everything the user is looking at. The captured live video stream is instantly sent to a powerful computer that uses proprietary software to process each pixel of video captured by the camera.
For the first time in his life, Ward was able to see his mother.
BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. — "Well, when I saw my mom for the first time, she was pretty," Ward told WBTV.
With the help of the glasses, Ward would no longer be considered blind, but their insurance won't cover the cost of the $15,000 glasses.
Hackley is trying to figure out how to raise funds so he can keep the glasses and has set up a page on YouCaring.
Ward's classmates are also putting together a fundraiser at his school.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LO2Z4E5HVVESNIFDWE3DYSFR3I.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SNIY2Q6TBJEL7MXONCB7XKGJ4E.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/INIPJDENXRDZJDZJH25FT7D76U.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/DV3D5PBQIZFEPANBGDDAZHIA5I.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SWNKG6TR5ZDIFJHRE3MIO7Y6QE.jpeg)