Help 12-year-old Conrad get his eSight glasses
MBOMBELA - Two years ago, a local boy, Conrad Otto, woke up one morning before school only to realise he had lost his sight.
At the tender age of 10, Conrad was diagnosed with retinal detachment, and after three operations, he was declared legally blind at 11. The only solution to helping Conrad see: a pair of eSight glasses at a total cost of R145 000.
“Conrad lost his sight, literally overnight. That day in December 2020, when he woke up not being able to see, his entire life changed,” said Conrad’s father, Pieter.
Pieter said he and his wife, Liza, immediately rushed their son to an optometrist, who then referred them to Dr Dean van der Westhuizen of the Nelspruit Eye Institute.
“After several tests, it was found that Conrad’s left retina was detached. Dr Van der Westhuizen and Dr Jan Niemandt arranged for Conrad to get to an operation by Dr Bernard Wolff at the Retina Surgery Centre in Johannesburg.
“These three doctors are heaven-sent. They assisted with some of the costs and made all the arrangements, because our medical aid would not cover the majority. They went out of their way for Conrad, and for that we are eternally grateful. I will never know how to thank them,” said Pieter.
He said there was a second operation done in Mbombela, and following that, a laser treatment was carried out on his eyes, however, after that, the doctors told Conrad and his family that nothing more could be done.
“We were told that there was no technology in the world that would be able to transplant a retina, and that we should look for alternatives.
“Conrad was only 11 when he was declared legally blind. He handled it so well and was very positive throughout all of this. As parents, we are continuously blown away by his courage and positivity,” he said.
Pieter said he and Liza learnt about the eSight glasses. “We were lucky to get hold of that information. Although Conrad is still able to do the things he loves, like play rugby and shotput and go fishing, he really struggles with his schoolwork. He battles to read and to write and to see what the teacher has written on the board.
“Last year, one of his teachers approached us and said they had overheard Conrad talking to a friend, saying he thinks he would be better off dead so that he didn’t have to ask his classmates for help in order to get his schoolwork done.
“It broke our hearts to hear this and that was when we started working really hard to raise money in order to afford the eSight glasses. In August, I set up a Backa-Buddy fund.”
According to Disability Info South Africa (Disa), eSight glasses are electronic glasses that enhance the vision of a person who has low vision by using a high-speed camera, video processing software, a computer processor and high-quality video OLED screens to project a real-time image.
“By using zoom in/zoom out, contrast and colour adjustments, edge enhancement and brightness control, the eSight Eyewear is able to enhance whatever the wearer is looking at, thus maximising their remaining eyesight,” said Disa.
Pieter said a friend of his forwarded the Back-a-Buddy information to another local, Ista van Zyl, who began brainstorming ideas and ways to raise the funds.
He said he had also recently met musician John Rock Prophet (Ruan Greeff) and asked him to share the Back-a-Buddy page, however, Greeff decided he wanted to do a show in Mbombela to raise funds.
“Ista got right to organising and contacted Ettienne Coetzee of The Pub, who was happy to let us use the venue for free. On Friday, November 11, John Rock Prophet put on an amazing show with all proceeds going towards Conrad’s glasses.
“The Lowveld community really opened their hearts and we managed to raised over R17 000. In total, we have managed to raise just over R40 000, but we still need R105 000.”
“Everyone who has helped us, from Ruan to Ista to Ettienne, the doctors and members of the community, has been absolutely amazing. We cannot thank them enough. You are all incredible,” he said.
He said they hoped to raise the funds before the start of the new school year, as Conrad was falling behind in his classwork and needs to catch up.
If you want to help Conrad get his eSight glasses, visit the Facebook page “Let's help Conrad to get his eSight glasses” and the Back-a-Buddy site, www.backabuddy.co.za/ champion/project/conrad-otto.