One man has never been more grateful for the gift of sight. A group of generous surgeons gave him what he calls a miracle. 7’s Heather Walker has tonight’s 7 Spotlight.
It was a moment months in the making. It’s the first time that Thoghi Louis has been able to see the woman who changed his life forever.
Thoghi Louis, gifted free eye surgery: “Man, I’m telling you, man, I just – tears come down on my eyes.”
Thoghi was born legally blind. His vision was so bad, he couldn’t cook or drive. But even more importantly, he couldn’t see the faces of friends and family.
For decades, he prayed for the ability to see.
Thoghi Louis: “I said, ‘Lord, I don’t know when I’ll be able to see, when you’ll heal me.’ He told me that He’s gonna open my vision, and I just believe in that.”
He was at work bagging groceries when he received the answer to his prayers.
Thoghi Louis: “I was working and saw the lady, and she asked me to see my glasses. She said, ‘I’m an eye doctor, I can help you.”
That eye doctor was Ann Kasten-Aker. She and her husband own the Aker Kasten Eye Center in Boca Raton.
Ann Kasten-Aker, eye surgeon: “He had big, thick, heavy glasses, and I said, ‘This guy needs help. His glasses are the thickest I’ve ever seen.’”
Thoghi was skeptical because he had been told in the past that surgery could not fix his vision.
Thoghi Louis: “‘No operation can be done,’ you know? And that’s what I keep in my mind.”
After some persuasion, he eventually went to the Eye Center, and the doctors there found a solution.
Ann Kasten-Aker: “He was born with cataracts. He was born extremely nearsighted, so the procedure that we needed to do was removing his cataracts and therefore correct his nearsightedness at the same time.”
The surgery was a huge success.
Thoghi Louis: “When they did the right one, I can see immediately when they do it. They put something in front of me, I can read it. Day by day, the vision is coming pretty well.”
Dr. Jonathan Aker, one of the surgeons who operated on Thoghi, says the results exceeded his expectations.
Jonathan Aker, eye surgeon: “He went from, I think he was like hand motion, where you could just see a shadow in front of him, to reading, you know, a chart at 20 feet. So it was really remarkable, and it was – it really even blew away our expectations.”
Thoghi says he now has a life he only dreamed of, and the best part? They did it all for free.
Thoghi Louis: “I don’t know how to explain it but, uh, thank you is not even enough.”
The Eye Center has performed nearly 100 free eye surgeries.
Ann Kasten-Aker: “It makes going through medical school and residency and building a practice so worthwhile.”
As for Thoghi, he says now he can truly live instead of just exist.
Thoghi Louis: “Every day, I have to come outside and look at the sky and see how beautiful this world is. I’d never been able to see things like that, you know, so it’s amazing, man.”
And for that, he is forever grateful.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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