A 61-year-old father was overcome with emotion after seeing colour clearly for the first time in his life, thanks to a special Christmas gift from his son.
Jim Gogan, who is colourblind, has struggled for decades to distinguish between reds and greens — a condition that even cost him his dream of becoming a pilot when he joined the Air Force, as he could not read colour-dependent radar screens.
For years, the family spoke about buying Jim a pair of specialised colourblind glasses. In December, that wish finally became a reality when his son, Kyle, was able to purchase them using a work bonus. The touching moment was captured in a video shared by the family, showing Jim breaking down in tears as he experienced colour properly for the first time.
“He’s never really been able to tell colour,” said Kyle, 39, from South Carolina. “He’ll say things like, ‘grab my blue shirt,’ and it’s actually green.”
Before presenting the gift, Kyle printed colourblind test sheets for the entire family to complete. Jim struggled with nearly every question. Moments later, Kyle handed him the glasses and the change was immediate.
As Jim put them on and looked at a coloured image of a Christmas tree, tears filled his eyes. After taking a moment to compose himself, he repeated the test and answered every question correctly.
The colour red made the biggest impression.
“He kept talking about how beautiful the bricks on houses were,” Kyle said.
The following day, the family took Jim for a drive to soak in the scenery. He was amazed by the deep green of the trees and the vivid blue of the sky colours he had never truly seen before.
Now, Jim wears the glasses regularly and is making the most of his new perspective, including taking them along every chance he gets especially on the golf course.