January 9 - Hope for 2015

I met Peter several years ago when Lyle and I were walking on the beach in Australia. I was walking beside Lyle, but Peter was walking alone using his white cane. I was quite impressed by this. Peter has no sight at all and I thought he was incredibly brave to tackle this walk without the benefit of a curb or grass edge on the side of a path. Peter assured me that he felt safe.  However, this time, Peter did tell me an interesting story of being stung by a blue bottle when he was on the less populated end of the beach. Blue bottles have a nasty sting and Peter said that he had some sort of allergic reaction to it. He felt quite dizzy and nauseous and needed to sit down. For the first time he found himself wondering how he would attract attention if he couldn’t make it back to the busier part of the beach on his own. Fortunately for Peter, the spell passed and he was able to return home under his own steam.

Peter and I also spoke about his potential participation in some cutting edge research. Around the world there are a number of research projects with the goal of restoring sight to the blind. About four years ago Peter heard a radio announcement soliciting volunteers for one such project. Peter contacted the institute and is gradually making his way through the selection process.

First he had to meet some initial requirements. Participants in the research needed to be completely blind but with no damage to the optic nerve.  Participants needed to have had sight at some stage. They needed to be in good physical health and to have no brain damage or other physical challenges. Peter had lost his sight in an industrial accident when he was in his early twenties and the damage was to the exterior of his eyes.  Peter was able to pass these screening requirements successfully. He continued on to fill in several reams of paper work giving his consent to the ethics part of the research.

In 2014 the field of potential candidates was narrowed to ten. Peter flew to Melbourne for an MRI and a comprehensive health check. He passed this with flying colours. The next step is for the researchers to choose one volunteer candidate for surgery. In this surgery, several – Peter thinks that it will be eight – tiny chips will be inserted into the brain. The blind person will then put on a pair of glasses with a miniscule camera in the lens. Somehow or other the sight images will be transferred from the camera to the chips in the brain. If the surgery is successful, participants have been told that at best their sight will be fuzzy and in black and white only. It will be something similar to the first TV reception.

Only one of the ten candidates will be chosen for this first surgery and Peter is hopeful that it will be him. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Peter and I am looking forward to our next conversation when Lyle and I return to Australia.

The picture below shows Peter and myself standing by the beach after a morning cup of coffee. We are both using our white canes. This worked well when we walked side by side. I am right handed but Peter is left-handed and so we could walk without our canes clashing together. 

Peter and Sue