From Darkness to Sight: Maria’s Story

Adolescence can be some of the most confusing but also the most fun times for a teenager–a time to feel free, make friends and get excited about one’s future. But, what if you are a 15-year-old girl living in darkness–literal darkness–with a bleak future? That was Marie’s life.

Maria was a blind Moldovan orphan, just one year away from being discharged from the orphanage, because all orphans are only permitted to stay until 16 years of age. Most likely, Maria would have been forced into human trafficking and prostitution, a devastating fate that many Moldovan orphan girls had experienced.

But something miraculous happened in 2012 that would change Maria’s life. Steve and Lynn Hendrich were on a mission trip in Moldova, working with children in Maria’s orphanage. They were drawn to her, feeling the need to help her in any way they could.

dr. ming wangA year and a half later and with the help of countless individuals, Maria came to the United States to live with the Hendrich’s and underwent life changing eye surgery by Dr. Ming Wang (MD, PhD).

A lot happened during that year and a half to get Maria to American and prepare for her surgery. Maria’s story became the inspiration and primary focus of The Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration’s annual fundraiser, the “EyeBall.” At the event, over 500 attendees heard Maria’s story and many began a project to assist in the process of getting Maria’s visa.

“Blind orphan children, the most helpless human beings. It’s hard to imagine more deserving children,” Dr. Ming Wang said.

Maria’s biological mother had to be located, and then many attempts were made to convince her to allow Maria to travel to America to receive the necessary treatments. Dr. Wang himself wrote many letters to consulates and embassies asking for help in obtaining Maria’s visa.

Throughout Maria’s life, she had become malnourished and her physical development suffered significantly, which affected her vision most of all. Her ocular history included an advanced, blinding cataract in her right eye, chronic inflammation of both eyes, a retinal detachment on her left eye and partial atrophy of both optic nerves.

In October 2013, Dr.  Ming Wang planned a complicated and high-risk cataract surgery for Maria’s right eye. The reason the procedure was so risky is that she had multiple eye diseases and issues, including a small, scarred and deformed pupil, tight adhesion of her iris to her lens, a dense cataract, uveitis, the unknown status of lens and zonular stability, and the possibility of retinal and optic nerve diseases. Maria had lost 100% of her sight in the left eye (due to a retinal detachment), and 99% in the right eye (she could only see light).

Dr. Wang and his team had many barriers to overcome, each which could cause the surgery to fail entirely. If even one step along the way was not successful, the team would most likely not be able to continue to the next step. All the barriers had to be overcome successfully in order to have a chance to restore even a portion of Maria’s sight.  The odds of this entire process being successful were not good, i.e., similar to the odds of tossing a coin in the air several times and receiving “heads” on every toss.

mariaThe fateful three hour surgery was performed Nov 7, 2013. Dr. Wang restored the distorted anatomy of Maria’s iris and pupil, reconstructed the pupil, detached the iris and lens adhesion, removed the dense cataract, stabilized the anterior segment and implanted an intraocular lens.

When the patch was removed from Maria’s right eye after surgery, she opened it and she could see. She counted fingers that were held several feet from her face, then she looked at everyone in the room… and smiled.

When Maria returned to the Hendrich’s home, where she had been living for weeks, she marveled at the house and all its furniture. She lied down on the sofa, looked up and enjoyed counting the blades of the ceiling fan.

That night, Maria went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She looked in the mirror and stared, studying the image, not realizing at first it was her own reflection. Then all of sudden it dawned on her that the beautiful girl she saw looking back at her was actually herself! Maria squealed with delight and exclaimed, “Sunt frumoasa!” (“I am so pretty” in Romanian).

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About The Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration
Established by Ming Wang, Harvard & MIT (MD, magna cum laude); PhD (laser physics), Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration is a 501(3) non-profit charity, which to date has helped patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge. The foundation doctors have published 7 textbooks and a paper in the world-renowned journal “Nature”, they hold several U.S. patents for new biotechnologies to restore sight, and they performed the world’s first laser-assisted artificial cornea implantation.