Huron Teen Receives Life Changing Gift of Vision

16-year-old Emily Warren longed for many normal teen experiences like getting a temporary driving permit, starting her first job, and being active in school. But her diagnosis of keratoconus, a thinning and bulging of the cornea that results in distorted vision, made simple daily tasks such as reading and driving difficult.

Warren’s doctor recommended that she get Scleral contact lenses to replace the irregular cornea and improve her vision to 20/25. The lenses come with a hefty price tag and insurance would only cover 13% of the expense. So, her parents Brian and Angela Warren, reached out to The Visual Bucket List Foundation in February for assistance.

The Visual Bucket List is a non-profit committed to providing children facing severe visual impairment or complete loss of vision with unique and personalized opportunities to create lasting visual memories. Most of the foundations wishes usually involve travel, but the organization pivoted in the wake of COVID-19.

“Due to current travel restrictions, instead of sending children and their families to create one lasting visual memory, we’ve looked to enable children such as Warren to create a lifetime of visual memories,” stated Visual Bucket List co-founder Christine Myers.

The Visual Bucket List granted the Warrens’ wish and she has received her Scleral lenses. Her mother, Angela Warren said, “To say this tremendous gift is life-changing for Emily would not even begin to describe it.”

Since getting her Scleral lenses, Warren received her driving permit, began her first job at McDonald’s, improved her grades, became the Tuba section leader for the Huron High School Band, and began her bowling season with a significantly higher average than her previous years. Her mother also said, “her confidence is back. She is showing her leadership and abilities without apology and it is a beautiful, beautiful thing to watch.”

You can find more about the Visual Bucket List Foundation on their website.