Yonkers boy gets gift of sight
One year ago, 12-year-old Willington Almonte's sight began failing. "When I couldn't see well, I couldn't play with my friends, soccer," he said. "I couldn't play video games." Willington's teacher
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Dec 23, 2014, 3:19 AM
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Updated 3,636 days ago
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One year ago, 12-year-old Willington Almonte's sight began failing.
"When I couldn't see well, I couldn't play with my friends, soccer," he said. "I couldn't play video games."
Willington's teacher Christina Samoyedny at the Enrico Fermi School in Yonkers also knew something was wrong.
She said he would talk about getting many headaches, and when she asked him the color of her eyes, he couldn't tell her.
Dr. Gerald Zaidman, director of ophthalmology at Westchester Medical Center, diagnosed the boy with keratoconus.
The eye disease causes the cornea, the clear outer covering of the eye, to take on the shape of a cone. Left on its own, Willington would become blind. His only option was cornea transplant surgery.
The Eye Bank for Sight Restoration placed Willington on a waiting list for two corneas, and he received the gift of sight.
In the fall, Willington returned to the soccer field and his state tests scores have improved with the surgery.
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