After spending three years in the dark, a 90-year-old great-great-grandfather from Oregonwho had been declared legally blind claims he’s suddenly regained much of his sight.
“God never treated anybody as good as he’s treated me,”Marty Alvey told the Daily News, three days after his vision inexplicably returned.
“When I got out of bed this morning, I looked into the mirror, and I said, ‘Hello there, Marty, nice to see you.’”
Alvey had given up reading and was forced to watch TV from a distance of 6 inches after being stricken with macular degeneration, which causes the loss of central vision.
Now the retired carpenter is hoping to go on sightseeing trips throughout the Northwest and possibly meet “a nice young gal, about 80 years old.”
“I’ve been reborn,” Alvey said, noting he can see clearly 5 feet ahead.
Alvey’s transformation came early Saturday after he awoke feeling woozy. After getting stuck in the bathroom, he crawled to his phone and called 911. On the way to the hospital, Alvey started feeling better.
When a doctor walked into his room, Alvey says he realized his vision had improved.
“He started talking to me, and I said, ‘You know, I can see you! I can see you!’” Alvey recalled. “I went crazy, completely crazy.”
A pair of ophthalmologists examined Alvey’s eyes two days ago and found no explanation for his improved vision.
“There are no anatomical changes within the eye to account for his subjective visual improvement,” saidDr. Anthony Cirino, of Kaiser Permanentein Portland, noting that Alvey’s performance on an eye exam showed no improvement. “From my standpoint, I can’t explain it.”
Alvey has spent the past few days tidying up his home in Tualatin, a suburb of Portland. The feisty nonagenarian has also relished gazing at photos of his five children and numerous grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren – and greeting his neighbors.
“Now when I meet people, I say, ‘Good morning, nice to see you,’ and I really mean it,” Alvey said. “Some people think I’m an old ding-a-ling, but that’s okay. I can see.”
