A Clifton Springs man is facing an unbearable new normal after a rare illness causes him to become legally blind.
Beau Evans, 20, first started to complain of blurry vision a few days before Christmas and went to the Geelong Hospital’s emergency room on Boxing Day.
Dad Brad Evans said he originally thought Beau had an eye infection, but soon found out that his son had a rare neurological condition which resulted in him losing his eyesight and spending the next five weeks in hospital.
“He came out of the room and said his eyes were a bit blurry. So I said ‘well go wash your face and just see what happens’,” he said.
“He washed his face and still the same. He went back to his room came back out later in the day the same again.”
Royal Melbourne Hospital neurology team found that Beau had an overgrowth of bone at the base of his skull that compressed the nerves running through to his eyes.
Mr Evans said the condition caused by a Vitamin A and Vitamin B12 deficiency with only a few cases worldwide had likely developed unknowingly for many years.
“This must have been happening for years and years and years. There’s never been pain. There’s never been anything that’s worried him,” he said.
Mr Evans said Beau was “shocked and scared” when he found out about his diagnosis but was currently “doing all right mentally” and was able to return home last Saturday.
“He was a very happy 20-year-old. Loved by everyone, polite, never in trouble, never went out, never did anything wrong, never had a cigarette in his life, never had an alcohol drink in his life, always home with mum and dad,” he said.
“He loves his cricket watches cricket, plays cricket, he loves his computer and V8 super cars. His dream was to be involved in V8 super cars and Formula One.
“This has been all virtually taken away from him. Work, everything like that, these are all things that he’s losing now.
“There’s only a handful of cases in the entire world that Beau’s got, which makes it very hard.
“I don’t think he wants to let out anything in front of mum to upset mum or upset me or things but with a social worker these are things that they can help with,” Mr Evans said.
A neurologists report says that Beau will likely remain visually impaired for the rest of his life but would continue to monitor him in the long-term.
Mr Evan’s said that he and wife Melinda hoped Beau would have a happy future and wanted to thank everyone for their support.
“I hope he becomes independent, being confident to be able to do a lot of things that people in his situation have to do,” he said.
“Just to be happy, try to be happy and getting the support of everyone that he needs around him.
“Just a big thank you to everyone who loves us and supports us.”
A person is declared legally blind when they are only able to read letters that are six meters away compared to a person with normal vision that could read 60 meters away.
Anyone who would like to help the Evans family can visit Beau’s GoFundMe page at gofund.me/39a6458c
