Opening Eyes provides free vision screenings, glasses to Special Olympics athletes
Imagine being a baseball player unable to see the ball. Imagine being a bowler but not being able to count the pins you’ve struck. Imagine being an athlete who barely can see.
For many athletes with intellectual disabilities, this is the case.
Research has found 68 percent of Special Olympics athletes had no eye examination in the past three years, 37 percent need glasses and 18 percent wear glasses with the wrong prescription, according to the Lions Club International Foundation.
Because of these, Special Olympics and Lions Club International Foundation partnered in 2001 to help athletes with vision problems. The numbers have been decreasing ever since.
As part of Healthy Athletes, Opening Eyes gathers dozens of optometrists and opticians to provide free screenings and eyeglasses, sunglasses and swim goggles for Special Olympics athletes.
Every year about 1,000 athletes are treated. In fact, many athletes struggle to afford eye care and come to the summer games specifically so they can get eye treatment, Opening Eyes coordinator Lindsay Pack said.
Take Carnell Edward Holliman, Jr., a 26-year-old powerlifter representing Area 23. After getting his new glasses, he beamed.
“I feel like the man (in these glasses),” Holliman said. “They make me look educated, even though I already am. Everything around me is clear,” he said. “(The world) is wider.”
For Holliman, the Opening Eyes volunteers are more than just medical professionals-- they’re examples of kindness in a world often lacking it.
“They’re very sweet. They’re very positive,” Holliman said. “There are people in this world who aren’t like that.”
One of these “sweet” people who treated Holliman is Tammy Antieau, former optician and current account coordinator at Walman Optical. Antieau has been involved with Opening Eyes for 11 years.
“I enjoy it because the athletes really enjoy themselves, and I love how happy they are,” Antieau said. “Congratulating them on their awards and high-fiving them—it’s just a very rewarding experience.”
Throughout the weekend, countless special moments happen.
Many athletes have put on their first-ever pair of glasses and simply cry, Pack said. Sunglasses are also a source of joy for many athletes, many of whom wore them at the closing ceremony, Pack said.
“They’re very grateful,” Antieau said.
These special moments are exactly why Lindsey Lewis, a second-year student at the Michigan College of Optometry, decided to join the field. Lewis started as a regular volunteer for Opening Eyes when she was a high school junior.
“I fell in love with it,” Lewis said. “Their faces light up—in a short amount of time, you can change their entire world.”
Part of that joy comes from the personal interactions between the volunteers and athletes.
“It’s a half hour of people who give you praise and are friendly,” Pack said. “Here, you get a personal experience, and I think they deserve that.”
“They deserve the opportunity to have people care about them and have the focus be all about them,” Pack added.
