Student given gift of eyesight

Angelica Barrios is thankful for the opportunity to see her dreams become reality.
Barrios, who aspires to make a positive change in the world while helping others, nearly had half her vision permanently taken from her after a freak contact lens accident severely scratched her left cornea in August of 2009.
“After I took my contacts out, I got this searing pain in my eye,” said Barrios, a 21-year-old resident of Sunnyside. “The next morning I couldn’t see anything out of my left eye. My vision was so blurry it was as though I was opening my eyes under water.”
Physicians placed her on antibiotics to combat an infection that had developed in her cornea, but the treatment was unable to cure the increasing amount of scar tissue.
It took a dozen dumfounded doctors a week to determine that Barrios had scratched her cornea. Soon after, she was declared legally blind in her left eye.
“It made me realize I took everything for granted before,” Barrios said. “After a few months I got depressed. Simple things like taking the subway or walking down the street were difficult. I had no depth perception and suffered frequent headaches. I was depressed, scared and anxious all at once. I felt defeated.”
In the fall of 2009, Barrios attended the City University of New York, forcing her to adapt to an unfamiliar environment without her usual senses.
“I wasn’t even able to look at a computer screen,” said Barrios. “Writing and reading were extremely difficult. It made everyday activities that you never thought would be difficult almost impossible. I felt like I’d never lead a normal life again, because so many opportunities were closed to me.”
Barrios debated taking a semester off, but ultimately decided to persist down her desired path.
In the summer of 2010, she met with Dr. George Florakis, an ophthalmologist and corneal surgeon. Florakis immediately recommended a corneal transplant, an option that provided Barrios a ray of hope in an otherwise dim situation.
Florakis performed the surgery in October 2010 with donor eye tissue provided by The Eye-Bank of Sight Restoration. Barrios says the scarring had become so severe that if the operation was not completed that fall, she would have lost vision in her left eye forever.
“Three weeks after my surgery, the difference was incredible,” said Barrios. “I can see everything absolutely clearly now. I can actually see out of my left eye without using my glasses. I don’t know how I made it, but now I definitely have a great appreciation for everything I see.”
Barrios, who said she will, “never, ever, ever” wear contacts again, is now enthusiastically pursuing her degree in Sociology, an opportunity she knows would never have been possible without an unknown person’s unselfish gesture.
“I am extremely grateful to the donor,” said Barrios. “I used to think I would never be an organ donor, but now I am and I encourage people to do it. I wrote a letter to their family. I understand that the donor was very young and their family went through a lot, but now [the donor] can live on through their donation.”