13 years blind, one fall, and she could see again

Lisa Reid of Auckland, New Zealand, lost her sight at 11, when surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor left her optic nerves permanently damaged. Doctors told her she would never see again. She spent 13 years navigating the dark, supported by New Zealand's Blind Foundation and her guide dog, Ami. Then, in 2000, at age 24, she bent down to kiss Ami goodnight and lost her balance, striking her head on the floor and the coffee table on the way down. She went to bed with a sore head. She woke up able to see. The impact had partially restored her vision, and no ophthalmologist has since explained how. What startled her most was time. Her brother had become a man with a goatee. Her mother looked the same, only older. "To see the world again visually is a gift," Reid said. Asked what she had missed most, she did not mention scenery. "Probably myself."