- A car crash left Jason Esterhuizen blind and fighting for independence
- He discovered a revolutionary brain implant offering hope of restored sight
- Technology helps him see flashes, navigate obstacles, and recognise lights
Here he shares his story in his own words.
Tinkering with a car, I admired the vehicle closely.
Look at the wheels on this beauty, I thought.
I’d always been obsessed with planes and automobiles.
In 2011, aged 23, I worked at the engineering shop owned by my parents, Johan and Isobel.
I was also practising to get my commercial pilot licence.
‘I can’t wait to fly and see America!’ I’d tell my roommate, Ettienne, then 23.
In December 2011, a mate suggested we go to karaoke.
Keen, I jumped in the car that evening with Ettienne in the front passenger seat and his brother Francke, then 19, in the back.
‘Let’s go!’ I cheered, pulling back the sunroof and speeding off.
After driving just a few minutes, I suddenly noticed a man running across the double lines at a junction.
If he doesn’t stop at the concrete island in the middle, I’ll have to hit the brakes, I stressed.
But he kept running onto my side of the road.
Frightened I would hit him, I slammed on the brakes, But I lost control of the car.
As we spun round, my head hit the steering wheel.
Not having my seatbelt on, I was suddenly ejected through the sunroof.
Feeling hazy, I woke up in shock, lying on the road.
I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear Ettienne racing towards me, screaming.
My mind reeling, I felt him wrap his shirt around my face.
In and out of consciousness, I heard paramedics arrive moments later.
Am I going to survive? I wondered as I was rushed to hospital.
There, I was put in an induced coma and doctors performed reconstructive surgery.
A few days later, with bandages still covering my face, I learned what had happened.
‘You’ve lost your sight in your right eye and the left eye popped out of the socket,’ a nurse told me gently.
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I’d also broken my skull and jaw, and my nose had been crushed.
I was horrified.
I was so silly not wearing a seatbelt – and so reckless for speeding.
Later, an eye surgeon told me they’d tried to save my optic nerve.
‘We stitched your eye back into its socket, however, you will be blind for the rest of your life,’ they said.
With tubes down my throat, I couldn’t respond, but I was heartbroken.
It was scary to start living in the darkness.
Hours later, I woke to my family by my bedside.
Are the boys okay? I scribbled with a pen.
I was so relieved to learn Ettienne and Francke were fine.
I’d never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to them.
After four weeks, I was discharged.
Moving back in with my parents, I was able to walk and talk, but I had to navigate my new world of complete darkness.
Relearning the basics, like even just moving from room to room, I felt frustrated.
As days rolled by, dark thoughts consumed me.
I’ll never fly a plane and see the world, I thought. And no-one will ever love me.
I felt robbed of my independence and what my future could have been.
A few months later, I had a visitor.
‘Jason!’ a woman cried, hugging me tightly.
It was Sumarie – Sue to me – my ex-girlfriend.
Chatting, we discovered the spark was still there and began dating again.
‘I love you – I don’t care that you’re blind,’ she told me.
The following year, I attended a school for blindness and learned how to touch type, and walk the streets with my cane.
I loved having some independence again.
Then Sue and I got our own apartment, and I made an income renting out my cars to Uber drivers.
In January 2017, we were watching the news when we learned about a new device called Orion being developed.
It would bypass the eye and optic nerve to send images to the brain.
This could give me a new life! I thought, reaching out to the company.
In December, I got invited for a medical screening in the US, where their labs are.
That month, I got down on one knee and proposed to Sue as she decorated our Christmas tree.
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Crying happily, she said yes.
Then in February 2018, we flew to America.
After we met with the neurosurgeon, I was one of six people in the world chosen for the trial!
Knowing it would take five years, we rented an apartment near the LA lab.
First I had brain surgery to implant a device on my visual cortex.
After four weeks of recovering, I was ready to test the device.
The medical team wired me up to a computer, and placed sunglasses with a camera on my head.
They’d press a button and ask if I saw anything.
After a few attempts, a white dot appeared.
‘I can see something!’ I screamed, as Sue cried with happiness.
I saw more flashes of white.
It was incredible.
Over the next year, we’d test weekly, monitoring my brainwaves.
During that time, Sue and I flew back home to get married in front of our families.
‘You’re the most beautiful collection of white dots,’ I told her tearfully.
After a year, I was able to use the device outside.
I wasn’t able to see clear images, but the flashes of white helped me to identify obstacles and to navigate.
Three years on, I can now make out fireworks, the birthday candles on my cake, and spot the lights and darks when doing laundry.
I’m even on a blind baseball team!
I’m so excited for this technology to advance even further and give others a second chance at sight.
Never did I imagine seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
This story was published in 2022.
