Believe it or not

Liza Richard was a girl living in Auckland, New Zealand. When she was about 14 years, she went blind because she had a tumour in her brain. Doctors said that nothing could be done to restore her sight.

Poor Liza bravely accepted her fate. She did whatever had to be done, like washing herself and changing clothes, as best as she could, and tried her best to lead a normal life. For 10 long years she lived without seeing the world around her.

She had a companion, a dog. In many countries, the blind have a dog as companion. Liza and her dog were always together, very close and loving companions.

Every night before she went to bed Liza kissed her dog and wished him goodnight. One night as she kissed the dog and raised her head, she hit the bedside table. The head had hit hard and she was in severe pain. "I'll get over it" she told herself, and put her head on the pillow. Liza fell asleep before the pain left her.

Next morning when she woke up and opened her eyes she was struck dumb. She saw everything that was in the room. "Am I dreaming or is this real," she said to herself. As Liza had had her eye-sight for 14 years she could name every bit of furniture, and the doors and windows. She saw her dog lying by her bed.

She sat on her bed unable to fathom this change. Is it real or a fantasy. She sat there for a while bewildered.

When she was convinced that what she was seeing was not a dream, she called out to her mother and told her the happy news.

The doctors who examined Liza said that when she hit her head hard on the table it had activated some nerve that was dormant and she regained her sight. When this luck came, Liza was 24-years-old, and she was happy indeed that she could see everything around her.

Compiled by Sumana Saparamadu