Clinic Blog: 2011 South Africa 2 Clinic Blog
October 24, 2011
1 Patient, Many Lives Touched
By twible
In every clinic, there is that one patient that most of the team gets to know usually because of their condition. And the team experienced one such patient.
Tom Wible Sunglass Hut, Mason, OH
While auto refracting patients, I remember testing one in particular that was one of the highest perscriptions I saw during the day. I couldn’t get a reading in his right eye due to a severe cataract and the reading in his left eye was +13.25. With readings like that, I knew he had to have difficulties seeing. I put the print out from the AR on his form, gave him a smile and sent him to the next station where he would see a doctor. I didn't know if we could help him, but with a team like ours, I knew we would do everything we possibly could to help him.
Steve Losey, LensCrafters, Buffalo, New York
I met a man today. He was lifeless. As Ricardo Humphries walked the man towards me, I saw someone with no energy, no emotion, and no facial expressions. I gently supported him up the stairs wondering if we could do anything for this man. Awhile later, Dr. Tom came to my area and said a man wanted to thank me. As I walked to dispensing , I saw in the distance a man full of life, talking like a preacher on Sunday. It was the man who I walked with. It was like a lightswitch had been flipped on. He was full of life. My friend Ricardo said it best “ We did not just give this man the gift of sight today, we gave him HOPE.”
Dr. Adam Hill LensCrafters, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
I was glad that Steve walked him over to our table directly; the man’s vision was obviously very poor, but he seemed in fairly good spirits nevertheless. Through one of our translators, we learned that he’d had an accident many years prior and had needed eye surgery in both eyes. There had been some complications, leaving him with no vision in one eye and next to nothing in the other. I took a better look at his eyes, and determined that the true refraction should be closer to +11.00 in his left eye. Aside from the prescription, there didn’t appear to be any other reason he shouldn’t be able to see with some glasses. The computer system found several sets of glasses that would work for him, so I picked one and sent him off to the next station, with hopes of following up with him afterwards.
A few minutes later, there was a bit of a commotion at the dispensing area, and since there was no longer a queue at our prescription-writing station I went to check it out. I saw our patient standing there wearing a recycled set of glasses, gesturing and talking non-stop. We didn’t need a translator to realize he was pointing out everything he could now see!
Jacqui Smallwood Lenscrafters; Nashville, TN
What an amazing day! I was in dispense today and an older gentleman was picking up his glasses. He had had eye surgery in Johannesburg over 10 years ago. He was extremely near sighted (a +11.00). When I put his glasses on him he just lit up. He couldn’t stop talking and pointing outside. The translator said he was telling him everything he could see and how he couldn’t wait to get back to his village to see everyone. Even though I couldn’t understand his language, I could see in his eyes what a difference this was making and the joy he was feeling. It is so hard to put into words the intense emotions I was feeling. I was truly overwhelmed. Imagine not seeing for over 10 years and then one day with OneSight you can see. We have Onesight shirts that say life changer. Some may see this and think we are changing lives but I think not only do we help change their lives but our lives are changed in the process. It filled my heart with such joy to witness this. I will never forget this day or this man. Thank you OneSight for allowing me to be a part of this miracle.
One Patient. Four Associates lives touched forever. It's amazing what one person can do. And what we can do for one person.
1 Comment
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Jennifer (CSC) says:
Losey Bear and Jacqui!!!! it’s so awesome to see you both make such an awesome difference in the lives of so many people!! After working with both of you, on 2 separate clinics, I know you both have been working sooo hard!!! Keep up the great work!! it’s great “seeing” you both!!
Posted on Thu Nov 3, 2011 9:38 am EST