In the blink of an eye

Matthew Lawson pets the family rabbit while sitting in the living room with his mother Michelle. In January, Matthew began losing his central vision, and now is considered legally blind. Matthew attends school at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired near Springfield. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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PRINCETON — A year ago, Matthew Lawson was just another sophomore at Princeton High School, focusing on getting his driver’s license and getting through school.

But in January, everything changed.

“He was sitting in class, and he couldn’t see the board with his right eye,” Michelle Lawson, Matthew’s mother, said.

Matthew always had perfect vision, so his parents quickly took him in for an eye exam.

“They couldn’t see what was wrong, but they noticed the optic nerve in the right eye was inflamed,” Lawson said.

The doctor ordered an MRI immediately, but it showed nothing.

“We were relieved but kind of, ‘What’s going on; we’re not sure what’s happening here?’” she said.

Matthew saw one doctor after another, ending up in Iowa City, where the doctors ran a number of tests.

“They noticed he was losing his central vision in the right eye,” Lawson said. “The left eye at that time wasn’t affected.”

Another MRI, more negative results, and the doctors recommended waiting to see what would happen.

They didn’t have to wait long.

“Within two weeks, the vision in his left eye started to be affected,” Lawson said.

Back to Iowa City and another MRI, chest X-rays and blood work, including genetic testing.

And then they knew what Matthew had.

“It came back that he had Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy,” Lawson said. “He has the worst form of it.”

The next step was to test Lawson, and she found she was a carrier for a disease with no treatment ... and there’s nothing doctors can do.

Lawson was devastated.

“I’m not doing real well because he got it from me,” she said. “I’ve always said I wish you’d put me in the situation. Let me take the drugs and all the tough times we’ve been through.”

After a few months, Matthew’s central vision was gone, leaving only his peripheral vision.

Vision is compared to what the average person can see at a distance of 20 feet, so average vision is considered to be 20/20. Matthew’s vision is much worse.

“What you can see at 1,600 feet away, I can see at 20 feet,” he said.

Matthew struggled to finish his sophomore year at PHS, dealing with the disease and coping with dropping grades.

But this year is going much better since the Lawsons learned about the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville, about 30 miles west of Springfield. They toured the facility during the summer.

“After the tour, we said, ‘What do you think, Matthew?’” Lawson said. “He said, ‘Can I stay?’”

Lawson said her son’s whole demeanor has changed since attending the school. The coach at the school helped Matthew find his way back into sports, and he enjoys hanging out with friends.

“You get all the help you need down there,” Matthew said.

The school teaches both academic and life skills, and he hopes to move to the total living care center next year.

“They teach you how to live on your own,” he said.

Today, Matthew’s goals aren’t much different than they were last December. He’s given up hopes of ever driving a car, but he’s still focused on staying active in sports, getting through school and achieving his goal of becoming a meteorologist.

Lawson just wants to educate people about her son and how life can change in the blink of an eye.

“Not that you want to be scared that it can happen to your kid, too, but to understand that in a small town like this, it can happen to somebody,” she said. “Now this opens up the opportunity for somebody to learn more and to understand what’s going on in somebody’s life they may know.”

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