Bringing Life Back into Focus: Ben’s Story of Vision, Hope, and Possibility
After serving honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps and building a successful career in insurance sales, Ben Dickerson was no stranger to forging his own path. Life had always been on his terms until five years ago, when everything began to blur.
His distance vision started to deteriorate, and with it came a new reality: a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. These progressive eye conditions, triggered by diabetes, damage the retina’s delicate blood vessels leading to blurry vision, and if left untreated, possible blindness.
Ben now faced one of life’s toughest transitions: redefining how to live life with a visual disability while adapting to a world that no longer looked the same.
For Ben, faces in the distance turned into shadows. Street signs became puzzles and impossible to read. Even navigating morning walks felt unsafe.
“It came to a point that I could not recognize people I knew from a distance,” Ben recalls. “Driving was just too risky but even walking anywhere, I was worried I’d trip over a curb and have a terrible fall. I lost my confidence—and a piece of my independence.”
But Ben didn’t give up.
From higher prescription glasses to medication, he was told that many of these treatment options would not help improve his vision. Determined to reclaim his independence, he made an appointment with a low vision specialist at the Salisbury VA Medical Center 45 minutes from his Charlotte, North Carolina home. That’s where he discovered something extraordinary: Ocutech Bioptics.
With the help of a skilled low vision specialist, Ben was fitted with the Ocutech® SightScope™—state-of-the-art bioptic telescopes designed to magnify distant objects and restore the widest possible field of vision—a perfect solution for individuals diagnosed with diabetic retinal and glaucoma.
Ocutech bioptics are like tiny telescopes built into glasses, designed to help people with low vision see more clearly, especially at a distance. Users look through their regular lenses most of the time and then tilt their head slightly downward to look through the telescopes when they need to see something far away.
The results? Nothing short of life changing.
“In just a month, I went from struggling to enjoy my favorite semi-pro baseball games to clearly seeing the scoreboard, the players, and just do everyday things again,” he says with joy. “It’s like the world opened up again.”
For Ben, it’s not just about watching sports with clarity. It’s about living fully again—safely crossing the street and recognizing a friend’s wave, without feeling limited by his vision loss. The adjustment to bioptics came easily, and the rewards were immediate.
“I love my bioptics! They make me feel normal,” Ben says. “Like someone who can truly see again.”
Since retiring in 2018, Ben’s pace of life may have slowed—but thanks to Ocutech bioptics, his world is more vibrant than ever.
Ocutech Bioptics: Reimagining What’s Possible
Ocutech’s mission is to empower individuals with visual impairments through innovative technology—restoring not just vision, but the ability to experience life’s everyday joys with independence and confidence. If you or someone you love is facing a visual diagnosis, there is hope. Learn more at Ocutech.com for resources and referrals to a low vision specialist in your area.
Photos of Ben.
