Acworth teens sees again with new eyewear

An Acworth teen is seeing clearly for the first time in 12 years. She lost most of her vision at the age of six after doctors removed a brain tumor. Friday, she got the chance to try out eSight eyewear.

Ashley Wagner was so happy and couldn’t hold back the tears. Her vision is the equivalent to if someone looked through a toilet paper roll with plastic wrap on the end of it, making it very blurry. But with this eye wear she can see clearly.

“You went all the way to the bottom of the chart and you read everything- great,” eSight Eyewear’s Arie Eve Therien said during a visit Friday.

It’s fair to say this was the first time Ashley could read most of the numbers on the chart or read normal-size print.

“Isn’t it amazing to be able to see this good?” her mother asked Ashley as she fought back tears. “It’s been a long time.”

For 12 years, Ashley has used magnifiers, binoculars, whatever it took to get through school. Soon, she will head off to Chattahoochee Tech and she is hoping to have a pair of these glasses when she does.

“It’s going to be amazing. I'm just so happy. I just can't get the words out and I hardly can’t,” Ashley said.

Three years ago eSight hit the market, but the story behind the eyewear started a decade ago with a Canadian engineer.

“He basically made these glasses for his sisters who have low vision,” said Therien.

And now it’s grown into a company. Therian flew in from Canada to meet with Ashley and show her how the glasses work.

“This is why I do this job, to see moments like this. I just think it’s awesome. It’s just awesome to see somebody who can barely see having almost perfect vision with eSight. That’s wonderful. This is why we do this,” said Therien.

“I was trying not to get my hopes up because I’ve tried so many thing that did not help my vision, but I was praying that they would help me, especially because I’m about to go off to college and just through my life this is just going to help me so much,” Ashley said.

The glasses cost $15,000.  There is an online account for anyone who wants to help her out.

And Ashley hopes to pay it forward. She said she is majoring in business management because she hopes to start her own nonprofit one day.

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