A 'life-changing' Christmas gift: Iowa man's reaction to 'color blind glasses' goes viral
Nick Noah has been color vision deficient his entire life — only able to see dull, "worn down" shades of every color. Until last Christmas. Video courtesy Julia Noah/Special to the Register
On Christmas Day, Nick Noah of Urbandale saw bright colors for the first time.
The 23-year-old has been color vision deficient his entire life — only able to see dull, "worn down" shades. Standing in the backyard, he put on "color blind glasses," a surprise gift from his dad, and walked toward a row of rainbow balloons taped to the deck. He was speechless.
"There are no words to describe it other than life-changing," Noah said. "It was easily the most overwhelmed I have ever been."
And thanks to his sister, Julia, millions of Twitter users shared in the moment.
She tweeted a minute-long video of her brother's reaction to trying on EnChroma 'color blind glasses' for the first time. It's since been viewed more than 2 million times, and shared by more than 13,000 people.
Noah's father, Michael, who purchased the glasses, is seen in the video setting down his phone to kiss and hug Noah, who began to cry seconds after putting on the glasses. Noah, 23, said he planned on buying himself the glasses this year, but that his dad "beat him to it."
Being color vision deficient is difficult to explain, said Noah, a recent Simpson College graduate who hopes to work in management or fitness.
"The most frustrating part about being color blind is trying to describe to people what I am, and am not, able to see," he said. "(To) someone who sees full vibrant color, it's very hard to comprehend."
Color vision deficiency happens when the retina has an imbalance or absence of retinal cone cells, which are sensitive to red, green, or blue wavelength light. It affects about 8 percent of men, but is less common among women.
EnChroma glasses use a filtering technology that, the California company claims, allows users to see an enriched color spectrum.
The company says its glasses can address about four out of five cases of color blindness.