You Just Can’t Beat Crying With Joy!
For his 66th Birthday, colorblind bodybuilder ‘William Reed’ received the ultimate gift from his family — a gift that would allow him to see color for the first time, ever!
In the video recently published on YouTube, William Reed’s family wrote:
Born colorblind, William lived his whole life in back and white. For his 66th birthday, his family decided to pitch in together to buy Enchroma glasses that have color correcting lenses that help the colorblind see color. This video is his expression to opening his gift and witnessing color for the first time.
Williams’s reaction to seeing color for the first time is so child-like and absolutely beautiful. The video has since gone viral and the comments say it all;
This is only made cuter by the fact he’s such a big guy showing so much emotion.
His happiness is so real, this made me cry with joy. Thanks for sharing this special moment.
Truly beautiful. – Ethan King
I can’t even imagine or begin to imagine the emotion he felt. That’s so amazing!
One of the most amusing comments:
opens a bag, opens a box, unwraps a box, opens a box, unsleeves a box, opens a box, opens a sunglass holder, opens a bag, finally puts on sunglasses.
He does finally put the glasses on. But I like the anticipated build up.
The Greatest Birthday Gift Of All
After William put the glasses on, he appears taken aback and delighted as he takes in the flowers, the trees and multi-colored balloons EnChroma send out with each set of glasses.
“Can you see with our eyes now?” someone asks.
William became emotional as he looked around and made a number of very child-like body movements.
“I never saw those before,” he said through tears, joking that his surroundings no longer “look like mud.”
“This looks so weird,” adding that nearby trees “don’t even look real.”
“Seriously, they look 3D,”
He then compared himself to Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz.”
“It is like ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ isn’t it?” a family member said. “Definitely like ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ You go black and white and then all of a sudden you see color. We’re not in Kansas anymore, baby.”
Hold On! Before You Rush Out and Buy EnChroma Glasses…
Is This Real or Just a Marketing Gimmick by EnChroma?
If you dig a little deeper into the reviews and do some research, you will find many negative comments saying this is fake. One of the biggest threads on Reddit will most likely leave you with a mixed bag of emotions and feelings.
I’ll leave you these final thread clips which appear to be very genuine and shine a positive light on the possibility that EnChroma could definitely help certain colorblind conditions and that you should get an online check before buying.
Comment from discussion Family Pitches in Together to give Dad Enchroma Glasses For his 66th Birthday.
Read the full Reddit thread here: 66-year-old Bodybuilder Sees Color For The First Time
Our Conclusion: Maybe EnChroma did pull a video from a vault somewhere and pulled a great marketing stunt. Maybe not.
I think the EnChroma Glasses will work with certain types of color-blindness and as always, results will vary from person to person. The biggest take-home is this:
“They offer an online test to distinguish your type and severity of your colorblindness and if and how much these glasses may or may not help you and to what degree. They then offer a satisfaction guarantee or your money back”.
Whatever the truth is regarding this particular YouTube video, at some point I believe this was a genuine moment and a beautiful reaction to suddenly seeing a wider spectrum of life’s amazing colors.
That, or William Reed should take up a career in Hollywood, because I had tears in my eyes!