[...1. Joey and Patsy
By Emily C. Lierman
[Editor's Note: Mrs. Lierman wore glasses for thirteen years. She was
cured six years ago, and has since acted as a very enthusiastic
assistant in the laboratory and clinic of the editor. She is not a
physician, but obtains results, having never failed to improve the
sight of any patient whom she has treated - a wonderful record.]
Joey is a little Italian boy who was struck on the head a few months
ago in an automobile accident, and injured in such a way that he
became almost totally blind in the left eye. Patsy Is Joey's brother,
and from him it was learned that when the accident occurred Joey was
at the head of his troops, conducting a strategic retreat after a
fierce conflict in which he had been obliged to yield to adverse
fortune. His face was to the foe and the automobile was behind him.
Hence the catastrophe.
A week later he was brought to the clinic of the Harlem Hospital by
his aunt. Dr. Bates examined him and found that he was suffering from
optic neuritis and retinal hemorrhages of the left eye, as a result of
which the vision of this eye had been reduced to mere light
perception.
The child was now brought to me for treatment, and never have I seen a
more forlorn little specimen of humanity. I did not know then that a
gang of street boys had once looked up to him as their leader, and I
never should have suspected it. There was not the shadow of a smile
upon his face, and he had not a word to say. Both his face and his
clothes were dirty. The latter were also ragged, while his shoes were
full of holes. His teeth were wonderful, however, and beneath the
grime on his small countenance one could catch glimpses of the
complexion of perfect health. I told him to rest his eyes by closing
and covering them with the palms of his hands, and after a few minutes
he was able to see the largest letter on the test card with his blind
eye. I told him to do this six times a day for five minutes at a time,
and to come back on the next clinic day.
The next time I saw him, he not only had made no progress, but was as
blind as he had been at the beginning. His aunt said:
"You scold him. Tell him you will keep him here, because he will not
palm or do anything he is told to do at home."
I answered: "You do not wish me to lie to him, do you?" Joey looked up
into my face, so sad and worried, waiting for me to defend him again,
as his aunt replied: "Well, I will leave him here and not take him
home again."
"All right," I said. "I live in the country, and perhaps Joey would
like to go home with me and play in the fields, and watch the birds
build their nests, and learn how to smile as little boys should."
Well now, you should have seen that dirty little face flush up with
excitement and pleasure.
"Joey," I said, "you are going to love me a whole lot, because I love
you already; but you must mind what I say, because if you don't you
will go blind."
Joey then consented to palm for a few minutes, and his sight improved
so that he was able to see the large letter of the test card three
feet away. He now made an effort to see the next line of two letters,
but not only did he fail to do so, but he also lost the large letter.
The strain had made him blind again.
How I wish I had more time to spend on a case like this! But the room
was full of patients, and more were coming continually. I had to
attend to them. So I asked Joey, very gently, to palm and not take his
hands from his eyes until I came back. After ten minutes I returned
and asked what he could see. To my surprise he read five lines of the
test card with the blind eye. Much encouraged I sent him home, and he
promised to palm six times a day. He stayed away almost a week and I
worried about him, for I knew he would forget what I had told him to
do. Then one day he turned up with his brother Patsy, who, I believe,
is twelve years old. My, how Patsy did talk! Joey had not a word to
say, and did not smile until I asked him to. Patsy said that Joey did
not practice, and that his father hit him on the head and threatened
him with all sorts of things to make him do so. It was quite evident
that he had not practiced. When I asked him to read the card, all he
could see was the big letter at the top at three feet.
Poor little Joey! I gathered him in my arms, patted his dirty face,
and told him that if he would count six fingers for me and practice
palming as many times a day I was sure Santa Claus would have some
toys for him at Christmas time. Joey was all smiles, and stood with
his eyes covered for a long time. When he again looked at the card he
read the fifth line. Meantime Patsy was telling me all about the
accident in which Joey had been injured, and also all about the rest
of the family. His big brother was going to be married, he said, but
not until another brother, eighteen years old, was out of prison.
Patsy talked like a man and his voice sounded like a foghorn, but I
saw that he had a gentle nature and I enlisted him as my little
assistant. I asked him if he would not try to get Joey to palm more,
and told him that he must always speak kindly to him. I also asked him
to ask his father not to hit Joey on the head again, because that made
the hemorrhages worse and Joey would go blind. Bless Patsy's heart! He
promised to help me all he could, and I am sure he deserves much of
the credit for what I was afterward able to do for Joey.
After this Joey's progress was steady. He responded to kindness as a
flower responds to the sun. But if I ever forgot myself and spoke to
him without the utmost gentleness - if I even raised my voice a little
- he would at once become nervous and begin to strain. One day I
remonstrated with him because he had not done what I had told him, and
a few moments later when I asked him to read the test card with his
left eye, he said, "I can only see the large letter." I began to pet
him, telling him what a great man he might be some day and how
important it was for him to see with both eyes. He smiled and palmed,
and in a short time he again read five lines of the card.
At a recent visit he was very conspicuous because he had had his face
washed. I could see that he wanted me to notice this, which of course
I did, giving him high praise for his improved appearance. He smiled
and started to palm without being told to, and his sight improved more
rapidly than at any previous visit.
His last visit was a happy one. He saw all of the bottom line at ten
feet without palming.
One day Patsy appeared at the clinic wearing spectacles. "Patsy, for
heaven's sake, what are you wearing those things for?" I asked.
"The nurse in school said I needed glasses and my father paid four
dollars for them - but I can see without them." His vision without
glasses was 20/100. After palming five minutes it improved
considerably.
"Do you want to be cured without glasses?" he was asked.
"Sure, I don't want to wear them."
"Well, you ask father's permission and I will cure you." Fortunately,
father had no objection, and now Patsy sees much better without
glasses than he ever did with them. He says that the blackboard looks
blacker than it used to, and that his lessons do not seem so hard. His
vision is not normal yet, but after he has rested his eyes for part of
a minute, simply by closing them, he can read the bottom line of the
test card easily at ten feet...]
- BEM, February 1920
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