Caleb's Brave Battle
Christmas is an exciting time for all of us – there’s something about seeing all the decorations and lights around the Christmas tree, the beaming smiles on Christmas morning. But imagine if you couldn’t see these things. Danielle Neyenhuis tells of the terrifying ordeal that led to her little boy Caleb going blind.
“I first noticed that something was wrong when Caleb was 16 months old. I was looking at photos of him and was surprised to see that only one of his eyes was displaying the ‘red eye’ from the flash of the camera. I made an appointment with an optometrist in Geelong, who said there was a growth in his right eye. The next thing we knew I was at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. The eye specialists told me Caleb had a condition known as “retina blastoma”, a cancer in the eye. It was the worst day of my life.”
Within days Caleb was in chemotherapy in an effort to beat the cancer. For six months, Danielle drove him back and forth to the Children’s Hospital three days a week. In the end, the treatments didn’t work and to prevent the tumour from spreading, Caleb had to have his right eye surgically removed.
After further radiation the specialists thought his left eye would be normal. So Caleb got on with his life as a happy three year-old at kinder. He could see and play the same as the other kids.
“Then the worst happened” Danielle explains. “One morning Caleb suddenly said to me “put the light on Mummy...I’m afraid of the dark”. I couldn’t understand, we were in his bedroom and the sunshine was streaming in. His left eye had haemorrhaged and he had suddenly gone blind.”
Sadly the cancer had spread and Caleb had to go back into surgery to remove his other eye. Before this second surgery took place, Caleb’s parents dedicated every moment they could to show him the wonderful colours of the world, in hope that he would never forget them.
At seven years of age, Caleb has now been without his vision for four years, but with inspiring determination and the help of Guide Dogs Victoria, he’s not letting that hold him back. “He is just amazing, a lot more confident. Nothing can hold him back, if he wants to go out and do something, he’ll do it” says Danielle of her son’s strength and newfound confidence.
One day Caleb will be old enough to have his own Guide Dog, which will help him achieve freedom and independence throughout his adult life. However with no Government funding for the delivery of Guide Dog programs, Guide Dogs Victoria relies on the generosity of others to be able to train and provide the Guide Dogs that change people’s lives.
If you can make a donation to Guide Dogs Victoria this Christmas, or become a Guide Dog Puppy Sponsor, it would be a beautiful gesture that touches the lives of vision-impaired people throughout the Victoria – including Caleb. It will fill their hearts with joy to know that others out there support them, but most importantly it will give them hope for the future, knowing they’ll have every opportunity to live a fulfilling and rewarding life.
YES, I will donate to the Appeal and help children like Caleb gain their independence.
