David Lee is back on the ice with help from eSight.
David Lee is an 83 year old retired electrical engineer who likes to remain active in his community in Toronto, Canada. His vision loss occurred in 2007, when he accidentally stepped on a rake and injured his left eye.
David is considered legally blind due to his injury as well as macular degeneration. He’s also experienced bleeding on the retina, which doctors used lasers to treat. He has approximately 50 blind spots on the retinal. However, David didn’t want problems with his vision to prevent him from enjoying life. A big part of that is getting together with teammates to curl, but a decline in vision makes it more difficult to engage in team sports.
Prior to getting help for his vision with eSight in 2008, David’s main challenge was blurriness. Magnification assisted him in seeing what he’s reading, making print bigger using a CCTV.
The legally blind curler discovered eSight when he was curling. Despite being unable to see the other end of the ice “I used a bright flashlight for aiming,” shared David. One night, one of his curling teammates shared an article in the Toronto Star featuring eSight. David arranged for an eSight demonstration at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and decided to buy them right away.
Since David started using eSight, he can see the other end of the ice. He can now see when the rock is coming his way. He’s gratified that he doesn’t have to guess where the rock is anymore, despite the macular degeneration. eSight enables him see better.
A Passion for Curling on the Ice and Curling up With a Good Book
David has been curling for 30 years and participates in the curling competition in Bonesville in Quebec City. He started using his eSight for his competition. “Last year, we used eSight in Ottawa in the provincial playdown and won!” This means he’ll be competing in Nationals in Ottawa in February.
David’s role in the Toronto blind curling club is the Skip. They play at Leaside in Toronto.
When he’s not curling, David uses eSight to read comfortably. Now that he no longer has to use his CCTV to read, he can enjoy relaxing and reading on the couch. So you can say that when he’s not having fun curling out on the ice with fellow teammates, David likes to curl up on the couch with a good book.
Read about the 10-year-old girl who saw the zoo for the first time.
Learn more about macular degeneration.