Act of kindness boosts a blind Arlington student’s confidence in navigating life
Dayanara Sanchez is like any 11th grade student preparing for what lies ahead in life while enjoying her time as a teenager.
While studying for the SAT and AP exams, she enjoys writing mystery or horror stories, music, or whatever comes to her mind.
She lives in Arlington but dreams of traveling outside of Texas. Taking a trip to New York or Las Vegas to see the different people, cultures, and music piques her interest.
Now, she is preparing to attend college, which can be a time of nervousness about finding new friends, picking a major, and for Dayanara, adjusting to her new prosthetic eyes.
“I can do my makeup now, I can curl my eyelashes, it just makes it so much cooler,” Dayanara says with a laugh of excitement.
Dayanara was born blind with a condition called microphthalmia, in which one or both eyes are abnormally small. It is occurs in 1 in 10,000 births a year.
When she was younger, she tried to wear prosthetic eyes but they were uncomfortable. Now she wants to try them again to support another level of confidence as she prepares for her next phase in life.
Allie Dull, a teacher of students with visual impairments across the Dallas-Fort Worth, helped Dayanara find her new prosthetic eyes. The price for prosthetics ranged from $5,000 to $10,000, which was out of reach for Dayanara’s family, so Dull reached out to Fort Worth Eye Prosthetics to see if there were grants or other funding available to help.
On Valentine’s Day, Fort Worth Eye Prosthetics called her back and said the company would pay all of the costs.
“It was just such a nice piece of light that was given to us,” said Dull, who was shocked by the generosity but knew Dayanara deserves it.
Earlier this month, Dayanara flew for the first time from Dallas Love Field to Austin to attend overnight programs at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. There, she learned skills to be more independent, including public speaking, cooking, and camping skills and met a variety of people.
While others view her condition as a limitation, Dayanara has not allowed it keep her from fully living her life.
Her prosthetic eyes are part of a larger attitude of confidence and determination to live an independent, financially stable life her parents could be proud of.
“You can be confident without them, you don’t need it to be confident, but it’s kind of helped,” Dayanara said.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM.
