VCOM-Louisiana students share eyewear solutions for color-blind community

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - VCOM-Louisiana and EnChroma showcased eyewear solutions for the color-blind community Friday morning.

EnChroma, an eyewear company, donated the glasses to four medical students who are color-blind. The glasses helped the students see the world in correct color for the first.

People with normal color vision see more than a million hues, but those who are color-blind only see 10 percent of them. Their world appears gray, in some cases - washed out and some colors look the same.

Color blindness affects one in 12 men and one in 200 women worldwide, according to Colour Blind Awareness. Mitchell Kroll, a fourth year medical student who’s been color blind since he was a child, says the condition can even cause safety issues.

“I think for me, the traffic lights are the biggest thing; especially if it’s a blinking red or a blinking yellow,” says Kroll. Sometimes I don’t know if it’s red or yellow. So, I don’t know if I’m supposed to stop there or proceed with caution. So, it makes a huge difference being able to see that.”

Shaylor Bringhurst, another fourth year medical student, says he stumbled upon being color-blind in his adult years and remembers the moment he couldn’t recognize certain colors.

“I first started noticing it 5 or 6 years ago. I was playing a board game with family, and I had a really hard time distinguishing between two different colored dice,” says Bringhurst. “So, that was kind of like the first moment. Like, ‘maybe I am colored blind.’ But too prideful to say that I was.”

The medical school will make the glasses available for color blind students and faculty to borrow to help overcome any learning challenges. In addition, the school donated pairs to a local arts council for visitors to borrow while viewing the gallery if they’re color-blind. Desi Hammett, director of communications and marketing with VCOM-Louisiana, stated the school ordered a total of 20 pairs of glasses, and four of those will be donated to the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council.

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