A Saskatoon sports fan is finally able to watch her beloved lacrosse team, after strangers helped fund her purchase of special glasses.
Bobbi Janzeen was born visually impaired with a degenerative eye condition. Despite having vision she describes as "foggy," Janzen has been an avid Saskatoon Rush lacrosse team fan. But her condition has meant she's never seen a game clearly before.
She turned to GoFundMe in an effort to raise money to pay for eSight glasses, a device that allows people who are legally blind to see.
The glasses contain a high-speed, high-definition camera that captures what the user is looking at and broadcasts it on an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) in front of the viewer's eyes.
She says 85 per cent of the cost of the glasses was covered by strangers who donated.
"The generosity of complete strangers…it was very touching," Janzen told CTV Saskatoon.
Getting the glasses was an emotional moment for Janzen's family as well.
"I had tears in my eyes, I was crying for her because she was crying and yeah, it was surreal," said her husband Dean.
The glasses have also helped Janzen see her daughters clearly, something she wasn't able to do before.
"Seeing them, they're just gorgeous, seeing my husband, it's amazing," she said.
The owner of Saskatoon Rush heard about Janzen's story, and had her take part in a ceremonial faceoff.
"Lacrosse is this sport that she could really engage and feel the energy in the building, and to know what's going on just by the sounds in the building…honestly this woman is an inspiration to all of us," said Bruce Urban.
The Janzens are now season ticket holders and haven't missed a game this season, with the glasses deepening Janzen's love of lacrosse.
"She's like 'Did you see that?' And I'm like 'Yeah,'" said Janzen's husband. "She sees it as well as I do, she can see better than I do actually, I think."
With a report from CTV Saskatoon's Mark Villani
