Young Girl Loves to Draw, but What Was Stealing Her Sight?

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

One thing that 8-year old Kimberly enjoyed was drawing and coloring. Then she began to notice that her right eye was getting blurry and irritated. “I thought there might something in my eye that was making it hard to see,” she told us. 

Kimberly’s mom Karla noticed that her daughter’s eye was also bloodshot. "It seemed like it might be conjunctivitis. I also looked but could not see any dirt in her eye.” 

The next day Karla her daughter to the doctor. "The doctor told me she had a cataract that needed to be removed, and that it was a very expensive surgery,” said Karla sadly.

Her husband abandoned the family seven years ago. As a single mom, Karla wondered how she could raise enough money to pay for an operation. “My daughter said, ‘Mom, I want to have the surgery because I want to see!’ That made me cry because she is my daughter,” added a tearful Karla. "When I did my housework, cooking and cleaning, I asked God with all my heart to heal her."

A few weeks after the first diagnosis, Kimberly woke up and told her mom that she could no longer see anything with her right eye. Her mom rushed her back to the clinic. “The doctor said now she had a cataract AND a detached retina. He said she now needed two separate operations to restore her sight.

Devastated, Karla confessed that she couldn’t afford either surgery.  That’s when a staff member referred her to Operation Blessing, Honduras.

Karla, now crying, told how how she felt the moment she learned that Operation Blessing would help. “When I heard that, I had faith that my daughter would see again! I know that God heard us and was opening a door for us.”

Operation Blessing arranged for Kimberly to receive both eye surgeries for free. The first operation repaired the detached retina, and the second removed the cataract and replaced it with a new lens.

A short time after the operations, we were there as the doctor removed the bandage, and Kimberly told us that she could see again.

"Now I can run and play and I can draw and color and do so many things,” said the smiling 8-year-old.

“When every other door is closed, Operation Blessing is a place where they open doors to help people who really need it!” said Karla spontaneously.  "I appreciate your help, you have no idea how much I thank you."