CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's something so simple that many of us take for granted: Seeing and experiencing the world's colors are a part of our everyday lives.
But two Veterans Memorial High School who grew up colorblind are learning how vibrant life is.
"We share a strong protanopia," says Brennen Bellows. Brennen and his brother, Brody, say they didn't realize they were colorblind until their mother had noticed it when they were younger.
Strong Protanopia is like a type of color dyslexia, says Brennen.
"It's mainly red and green and every color that we have a hard time seeing or that we see that's actually a different color, they somehow relate to red or green...or sometimes blue," he said.
Their Chemistry teacher, Sabina Maza, knew they were colorblind but noticed that it was harder for them to participate in certain assignments at school.
Over Thanksgiving break, Maza decided to reach out and raise money for color-correcting glasses. She says within days, the glasses arrived at her home.
Then last week, with the presence of the twins' mother, Maza gave the glasses to the boys.
Immediately, they were in shock and excited for the new visions that laid ahead.
"I feel like little acts of kindness, or I say little, acts of kindness like these they really go a long way kind of help change a students perspective of how they view their teachers," Brennen says.
Brody says that they currently are wearing their new glasses for a couple hours a day so their eyes can adjust.
The gift of color is something even Santa Claus couldn't give.
Since word got around that Maza gave these glasses to the boys, another company has reached out to donate a higher grade of color-correcting glasses to the twins.
Brennen and Brody both say their mom is planning a trip to look at Christmas lights as well as sunsets, so they can get the "full experience."
Ms. Maza says she hopes to get a few more glasses to keep in her classroom for future colorblind students that take her class.
