In 1969, John Erickson was twelve years old, and he found himself in the hospital, checking out some serious headaches and a slight loss of his eyesight. He would have nine operations over the next three years to save his life, but he would become legally blind in the process. He came to see that blindness was far different than he thought, and that other people's perception of and reaction to his blindness was far different than he ever expected.