Blind Dad of 4 Cries Seeing Wife & Kids for the First Time in Decades but Curses When Sees Middle Son

Joe Vasconcelos suffered a rare condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa which affected his eyesight and left him legally blind. His vision only got worse and left him completely blind, but after 20 years, he finally got to see his wife of 36 years and his four sons.

Joe Vasconcelos, a husband, and father of four, was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a disease that affects a person's peripheral view, at 25.

The condition had Joe register as a legally blind person in 1998, but his eyesight only got worse, and by 2004, he had completely lost his ability to see. This meant that he had continued life not seeing his wife, Jean, and sons, Justin, Christopher, Joseph, and Nolan.

However, after almost 20 years of not physically seeing his family, Joe, from Halifax, Massachusetts, had the opportunity to test out a new technological advancement that would help him lay his eyes on the world again.

How Did Joe React to Seeing His Family after 20 Years?

A technology company, E-Sight, created a pair of glasses that would be able to adjust to Joe's eyesight. The father of four scheduled a trial session with them, and his reaction was caught on camera.

The experience was surreal for Joe, as he was seen shaking when putting on the glasses. He also admitted, "I felt a surge of anxiety right before trying on the glasses." After putting them on, Joe looked down at the phone and saw a picture of his wife after 20 years. The 53-year-old was overwhelmed with emotions, and tears started streaming down his face.

Joe said he had held on to a younger image of his wife, but after 36 years of being married, he thought, "She still is as beautiful as ever." He spent all those years not knowing if he would ever get the chance to see his family again.

The 53-year-old expressed, "After all these years of wondering and trying to picture what my family looked like, to actually be able to see them in front of me again."

The image of his wife truly touched Joe. He sat there in awe, smiling at her picture, but as he started to get to his sons' pictures, he had a few opinions about how their personal styles had evolved.

Firstly the father could not tell his sons, Justin and Joseph, apart since the last time he saw them; they were fourteen and seven. But when he got to see his son Christopher and his long hair, he could not help to laugh.

He laughed at Christopher's long hair and side parting and even suggested that he cut off the long hair. But when he got to see his youngest son, Nolan, he was filled with emotion again.

The father was seen holding his tears back and noted, "That's amazing." The moment was not only touching to Joe but to his sons as well, who had to watch him miss out on numerous milestones in their lives.

Joseph expressed, "The last time my dad saw me, I was only seven years old, so for him to see me now as a 20-year-old man with a beard was incredibly surprising."

Joe's condition has also come with severe anxiety, but having these glasses has introduced the family to a reality in which their father could have a normal life, watching his favorite sports and seeing his sons get married.

Helping Joe Get His Life-Changing Glasses

Unfortunately, the emotional moment the Vasconcelos family shared had to end there as they could not take the glasses home. This meant Joe would go back to his regular life and continue dealing with the severe anxiety that his condition has brought him, But most heartbreakingly, he would once more be left unable to see his family age.

The glasses cost $10,000, and the family could not afford to take them home. However, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money to get Joe the E-sight glasses.

Here is a story about a blind man who was gifted with a guide dog that saved his life.