For one Georgia man, his 22nd year of life will be a truly colorful one. McKinley “Mac” Erves has spent is whole life without really seeing the world around him as it is. In middle school, an eye test revealed that Mac was colorblind, having difficulties seeing shades of red and green.
His friends got together and surprised the Lagrange College student with a pair of special glasses that allow those who are colorblind to finally see all the beauty that most of us take for granted.
In a Twitter post that has been “liked” over 180k times and viewed 2 million times since being posted on Monday, Erves writes:
“The fact that I hardly ever mentioned my want for colorblind glasses and my friends literally went out of their way to get me a pair for my birthday just tells me how much they love my a– and I couldn’t have asked for better people to call my brothers!!!”
I love y’all!!! ❤️@256__Will @J0_Na_Than @x_The_Cover_x pic.twitter.com/ZqzCJswgXG
— Mac (@maciavelli_) January 4, 2021
His video going viral is no surprise, as his giddy reaction is so sweet to watch.
Speaking to TODAY he says:
“I was at a loss for words. For them to actually go out of their way and remember and do something for me like that when I never expressed how badly I wanted the glasses, it made me feel really good.”
The National Eye Institute (NEI) explains that colorblindness typically runs in families but often doesn’t present itself until later in life. There is no cure for the condition, and while difficulty seeing variations between red and green are fairly common, being completely colorblind is actually very rare. The NEI says that colorblindness afflicts men significantly more than women, with about 1 in 12 men suffering from the condition.
“This is probably one of the best gifts I’ve ever received in my life,” Mac said. “It is life-altering.”
His world looks so drastically different now that Erves says he has worn the glasses nonstop during the daytime since he received them:
“With the glasses, you see how things are supposed to be,” he said. “I’ve always seen what I’ve seen, but then when these glasses corrected my vision, it’s something I won’t forget.”
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