FIRST LOOK AT FLAMES A THRILL
Device gives cancer patient gift of sight
Long before five different goal scorers prompted the C of Red to rise in celebration as part of the Calgary Flames’ seventh straight win, a brave 11-year-old girl elicited a similar reaction.
Standing on the red carpet alongside George Canyon for his singing of the national anthems before a rare Sunday afternoon game, Olivia Lettich was introduced to the crowd.
The response was as heartwarming as her story.
Diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer at four months of age, Olivia battled through nine rounds of chemotherapy and 50 radiation treatments in an effort to save her eyes.
At age two, she lost her right eye, leaving her legally blind with a left eye that provides her with only peripheral vision due to the scar tissue from her cancer battle.
A lifelong Flames fan who has long had to sit a few feet away from the TV just to see shapes of her favourite players, the polite Grade 5 student from Captain John Palliser School was given two life-altering opportunities over the weekend.
The first was a new pair of specialized electronic glasses from a company called eSight that uses real-time video technology to enable the legally blind to see and independently carry out all activities of daily living.
The second was a chance to use them to actually see her favourite team for the first time.
With the assistance of a Calgary Flames Foundation that raises $4 million annually to support several causes, including health and wellness, Olivia celebrated her second day with lighter, more advanced glasses in style.
“That was so cool,” she beamed when asked about the stirring response 18,000 people gave her.
“I was a little nervous, but then when I got out there I was excited and happy. It was probably even better than I expected. I sang along to the Canadian anthem, but I did not know the American. I only know, ‘O say can you see?’ ” Well, she can now. “I was able to see the shots and the players’ numbers and it was fast,” Olivia said, so thankful for the gift of sight so many take for granted.
“It’s super important because everyone else tells me what they see and sometimes I wish I could see it. These help a lot.”
It was an emotional day for her family too.
“She has been to a game before, but she couldn’t see it — she was just there for the cheering and the malts,” smiled her mother Meredith.
“I’d say, ‘The wave is coming,’ and she’d stand up. And she’d hear the boards if there was a big hit and she’d cheer, but she couldn’t see anything.”
Given lower-bowl seats by the club for her family of six, Olivia and the gang got a chance to meet Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano in the dressing room following the team’s 5-2 win over the New York Islanders.
“It smells like sweat,” she chuckled, as the players so graciously fawned over her and her siblings.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime — we can’t thank the Flames enough,” added Meredith.
“She’ll never forget this day ever. She’s had goosebumps all day and so have I. It’s so exciting. The standing ovation from the crowd … amazing.”
Almost as stirring as the day Olivia got her first pair of eSight glasses a few summers earlier.
“She went into the backyard and looked around and she got teary and said, ‘Everything is so beautiful,’ ” recalled mom.
“I could see every little detail in the leaves and I could read signs — it was so cool,” jumped in Olivia, sporting a Gaudreau jersey and gold boots.
“I cried in my bed, I was so happy. I was just so happy. It changed my life.”
Admitting it was “tough and scary” to wage the cancer battle she fought to keep what’s left of her eyesight, Olivia now looks forward to a life with eyewear that resembles a scaled-down version of virtual-reality glasses.
As leaders in the community on so many levels, the Flames have always been brilliant at recognizing their ability to make a difference. A class organization from top to bottom, what they did for Olivia is a tiny example of their generosity.