DENVER — The Anchor Center for Blind Children in Denver is truly one of a kind.
It’s a school that teaches visually impaired infants and young children how to live in a world they cannot see. Kids like Oliver Gordon.
“It was unexpected," said Stephanie Gordon. "We were surprised to have twins and then to find out that they wanted to come early.”
Just 24 weeks and five days into her pregnancy, Stephanie Gordon went into labor with her twins.
What was supposed to be one of her and her husband Andrew’s happiest days became one of the hardest.
"Doctors early on, one or two days of life, asked us if we wanted to end life," she said. "And we fought for Ollie and he’s here for a reason and he’s going to do big things one day."
Oliver weighed just one pound, 6.9 ounces at birth. He and his twin brother, Edward, spent four and a half months in the NICU.
“Pretty early on they told us that with his diagnosis with his brain bleed and with prematurity, there were vision impairments that would be a possibility,” Andrew Gordon said.
Both boys were diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
Edward’s eyes healed on their own but Ollie’s required surgery.
“It wasn’t until he got home and was a little bit older that he got diagnosed with CVI which is cortical vision impairment which is not a problem with his eyes but more a connection between the eye and brain,” Gordon explained.
The Gordons said it heart-breaking to know Ollie would never truly see the world around him. But now they’re thankful for the Anchor Center and its therapists who turned their fear into hope for the future.
“The Anchor Center is more than just a school," Stephanie Gordon said. "It's more of a community. They have been there from the beginning.”
After almost three years at Anchor Center, Ollie is thriving.
He’s learning how to crawl and sit up.
His eye charts and motor skills have improved and his determination doesn’t keep him too far behind his brother.
“His brother doesn’t give him a pass for anything," Stephanie Gordon said. "He pushes him, crawls on him, throws things at him. He’s a typical brother and that’s how we want Ollie to be.”
The Anchor Center is nearly 97% funded by private donors and they never turn away a family because they can’t afford it.
Steve Staeger and Danielle Grant are participating in a friendly fundraising competition to raise money for the center. It's called 'Dancing with the Anchors' and the competition ends Saturday, April 23.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Feature stories