Imagine being closed off from the world in darkness and then one day finally getting to gaze upon the faces of the ones you love most.
Thanks to modern technology many sight-impaired people are now getting the chance to see clearly.
A beautiful video of a baby boy seeing his mother clearly for the first time has recently emerged online and is touching the hearts of millions of people around the world.
That baby is Leopold Reppond of Washington. Leopold suffers from a rare disorder called Oculocutaneous Albinism (OCA) which affects the coloring of his skin, hair, and eyes.
The condition left Leopold with extremely impaired vision his entire life.
It’s estimated that 1 in 20,000 people worldwide are born with oculocutaneous albinism, according to the NIH. Thankfully, Leopold was given a pair of glasses that allowed him to see clearly for the first time.
His father, David Reppond, captured the heartwarming moment where Leopold saw his mother, Erin Reppond, for the first time on video.
“Today he received his glasses, and can now see the world clearly for the very first time,” wrote Leopold’s mother.
In the video, Leopold’s glasses are placed on his face and it takes him just a second to register that his vision has changed.
“Hi, honey!” his mother says to him.
He looks up towards his mother who is crouched down in front of him smiling.
He sees her happy face and immediately smiles back – recognizing her clearly for the very first time. It’s a truly beautiful moment. He looks down towards his hands, noticing how different his surroundings look before looking back towards his mother’s face.
“When he finally did look up that second time and you see that recognition on his face. That’s a smile we just hadn’t really seen before,” Erin Reppond told ABC News. “He’s a pretty happy baby and he smiles and I feel like he generally is pretty happy but that smile was something that was so different for me to see.”
David Reppond posted the video on Facebook where it was viewed more than 58,000 times. It ended up going viral and was shared by countless media outlets.
People on the internet instantly fell in love with the video.
“What a precious moment!! Thank you for sharing this with all of us! His smile when he sees you is absolutely priceless!” wrote one Facebooker.
“Beautiful!!! Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful,” said another.
You can watch this tear-jerking moment in the video below.
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