Seeing Clearly Now
Olga Lopez noticed that she wasn’t seeing clearly through one of her eyes. Then someone at the shop where she worked asked her a question. “She looked at me strangely and asked if I knew there was something in my eye. She said it was a white spot. I went to look and saw it for myself.”
At age 33, Olga had developed a cataract in her left eye. A few months later, the cataract got worse. It affected Olga at work. “There were a lot of people who came into the store. I bumped into them because I didn’t see them. I also started tripping on things. And the light bothered me.”
One day she was walking down the street and didn’t see a metal pipe sticking out from the back of a pickup truck. She came within inches of injuring her face and eye. Olga’s husband got so nervous about his wife’s safety that he asked her to stop working and not to go out alone.
“She started crying, I consoled her and told her I was going to cover all the expenses,” recalled Olga’s husband, Erick.
Now with only one income, paying for eye surgery was not possible. “I wanted to have the surgery so I could keep helping my family financially,” said Olga. “Erick’s salary was not enough.”
A week later, Olga received a call from Operation Blessing. A staff member told her that her case had been referred to us by the eye clinic. “At first we couldn’t believe it! Now we had hope!” declared Erick.
Operation Blessing paid for Olga to receive free eye surgery. A surgeon replaced the cataract with a new inner-ocular lens. “When they removed the patch, I told her to cover her eye to know if she really could see me. And she said yes, she could see me,” said Erick.
Within a short time Olga was able to return to work. “The people who paid for this operation are a blessing to us. I am so happy and grateful. Thank you,” she said.
