I am now 67 but I was 7 when I had my freak accident. My parents were draining our pool to have the inside redone. They had several people over for the evening so some of us kids were playing in the pool until it was empty. The water was completely gone from the shallow end but the deep end still had water up to the bottom of the light. I was floating in the water and one of my brothers thought it would be funny to jump in near me and the light in the pool exploded in my face cutting me from the bridge of my nose and across my right eye.

The light in the pool was suppose to be the type that did not have to be submerged to have it on and still be safe but we found out later that they put the wrong light in. Anyway, I was rushed to the hospital and into the first surgery to try and save the eye. Eyes are sympathetic of each other and as I stayed in the hospital my vision in my left eye started to change. I would now need glasses they said for my good eye.

The glass had cut all the way through the muscle in my right eye and the surgery hadn’t helped to save my eye so it had to be removed, muscle and all. By then I was 8 and had missed a lot of time in school so I ended up repeating the first grade. But I never let my eye stop me from doing the things I wanted to do. I was an excellent swimmer/diver; I did some modeling in high school and pretty much grew up just like I would have with two eyes. There were some sports I found I couldn’t do as the depth perception issue would come into play so anything with a small ball I just couldn’t do but I played volleyball in high school and loved it.

I decided when I got my license at age 17 that I would be the best driver ever and to this day I have not had a ticket or accident.
I have been active all my life. I am thankful everyday that the light didn’t take both my eyes that night. Live your life just as you normally would with both eyes. You might turn around and bump into someone on your blind side but just laugh it off. Life is to be lived.