I have been a long time resident of Burns Lake. My name is Steven Cox. I had a good job and a good life with my wife Paula, son Benjamin and daughter Tammy.
A little story - June 2010 I left work and went home, like every normal day. When my wife arrived him I let her know I had to go to the hospital in town (Burns Lake). To make it short the doctor there (Dr. Graetz) looked at me and the next thing I was sent out on a medical jet to Vancouver. I received cutting edge new stents in my heart. I lived, how about the eh?
Here it goes - shortly after going back to work I was feeling pretty good. I got up one morning and in a matter of minutes I went blind. They told me my blood pressure was so strong that it stretched the arteries behind my eyes. Unfortunately they will never go back to be normal. Oh well, it happens.
Since this affliction I have had to learn to walk without falling down and learn not to walk into walls and doors.
Me and my Paula got invited to a place called Lake Joe. It is a camp for blind children in Ontario, Canada eh? I got to meet some beautiful people, people just like me. I learned a lot. How to walk again, they taught me how to cook so I can survive and things like how to go up and down stairs. The most scary thing they taught me was how to cross a four land street (try that with your eyes closed). Unfortunately the program got cut due to government cutbacks - what a loss. Well so much of that.
The gift of sight began for me when my Paula was watching TV. A little girl had got the gift of sight, it was a miracle. My wife started looking into this for me. She had contacted a company called eSight, based out of Ottawa (ha ha a Canadian company). They talked and emailed back and forth.
Months later they were having a seminar in Vancouver so we got invited to come and see what they could do for me. I was very sketchy all the way there. It was my time for checking out what it was.
Let me tell you the first minute I put the eSight glasses on my face and adjusted them for me I broke down and started to cry because it was the first time after three and a half years that I got to see my wife's face and lots of other things that every day people take for granted.
So we debated this for a couple of weeks. The price of the eSight glasses was way out of my finances, but we talked and got a bank loan and bought them.
I would like to thank my wife for going online and starting a thing called a Plum Fund and for being my first contributor. My daughter started sending it out to all of her friends and my son Benjamin also. $10 here, $20 there, $50, $1000, donations started to roll in. From people I don't even know. It started to bring back my faith in people once again.
Jim and Marge Geortzen gave me a healthy donation. I know I have left out lots of friends and others that helped me get the gift of sight.
We received just about half of the price, $10,000.
So if you see me walking around town stop and say "how's it going?" Because I can see you now, even though I still can't drive. Oh well, life looks good.