At first glance, Lauren Hoke's wedding photos look pretty typical. But with closer examination, it's easy to say that this special day marked something more than the ordinary milestone for the family. Lauren's mother Joy suffers from a rare condition that left her totally blind in her 50s. The abrupt loss of vision radically changed her life.
“I’m legally blind. I can’t drive. I can’t work. I can’t read and then I’m not going to be able to see my daughter get married or see my grandbabies,” Joy told ABC. “Lauren told me after that fact that one of her first thoughts was, ‘Oh my gosh, my mom is never going to see me get married,’ but she didn’t verbalize that because she knew I was upset enough.”
The mother went through a very dark period after the loss of vision. Then hope came along in the form of a pair of very expensive goggles. The goggles made by eSight were a new invention that would allow the visually impaired to see. The catch? They cost $15,000 a pair. That's when Joy's family and friends decided to do something about it. They knew how important it would be for the mom to see her little girl walk down the aisle. They set up a GoFundMe page, where they raised enough money for Joy's glasses and an extra $2,000 to donate to another visually impaired person.
“Every morning I’d wake up and tears would start streaming down my cheeks. I could not believe it,” Joy said of the generosity. Just in time for that vey special day Joy was able to see her daughter say "I do."
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