A Mother’s Miracle: Restoring Sight in Honduras

For years, Bersabé Valeriano prayed for one simple gift: the chance to see again.

The 36-year-old mother of two from Belén Gualcho, a remote community in western Honduras, had already been battling kidney disease when darkness slowly took over her life. A perforation in the cornea of her right eye left her blind and took away the independence she once enjoyed.

More than anything, she worried about her two teenage daughters.

“My daughters were worried whenever they saw me blind,” Bersabé says. “I couldn’t care for them the way a mother wants to.”

A Cornea Transplant in Honduras Changed Everything

A cornea transplant was her only hope of seeing again. However, for a homemaker living in poverty and hours away from specialized care, the procedure seemed impossible.

Still, Bersabé kept attending appointments through Fundación CAMO’s eye care program.

Then came the phone call.

The team at CAMO told her that the next day she would receive the surgery she had been praying for. Dr. Julie Schallhorn and Dr. Jay Stewart from the University of California, San Francisco had traveled to Honduras carrying donated corneas from the United States. Together with volunteer specialists from Centro Oftalmológico Robles, led by Dr. Laura Ponce, they made the surgery possible for patients with urgent needs.

As a result, Bersabé received a second chance at sight.

One year later, gratitude still fills her voice.

“I prayed to God for this miracle for years, and today I can see. I couldn’t see anything. Everything was black to me. Now, as the days go by, I see better and better.”

Today, she walks to appointments on her own and no longer fears leaving home.

“Before, I wouldn’t go out because I was afraid a car would hit me. Now I go by myself. I have my independence back. I feel happy.”

For Bersabé, recovering her vision meant much more than seeing again. It allowed her to regain her confidence and care for her family with peace of mind. Most importantly, she can once again look into her daughters’ faces without fear.

Sometimes, miracles arrive through the kindness of strangers, the generosity of donors, and one life-changing phone call.