Ian Barnes of Champion doesn't let health problems stop him.
He's been living with Crohn's disease and e.coli since he was 10. Two years ago, he started having trouble with his vision.
His doctor said it was all the reading he was doing as a freshman at Geneva College. Barnes started wearing glasses, but his vision wasn't improving.
"My vision was starting to split, and when I was driving at night the glares were starting to become unbearable," said Barnes, who is now 20.
He went back to the doctor on New Year's Eve. His doctor diagnosed him with Keratoconus, a disease that affects the cornea. According to the Boxer Wachler Institute for Vision, 1 in 500 people have Keratoconus.
"The only option was to wear hard contacts, until I would need a cornea transplant," Barnes said. "And during that time, I was going to progressively go blind."
The diagnosis was crushing for Barnes, who was then 19. His mom couldn't believe it either.
"My world stopped on the dime," said Elizabeth Barnes.
Barnes wanted to give up, but his parents refused. Elizabeth went into warrior mode, researching the condition online.
Her search led her to Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler in Beverly Hills, Calif. Boxer Wachler invented a treatment for Keratoconus called Holcomb C3-R. It's named after Olympic bobsled driver Steve Holcomb who had the procedure done.
"He's the number one doctor in the world to do this procedure," said Elizabeth Barnes. "The FDA has not approved this procedure, and so the insurance doesn't cover it, and doctors won't perform it."
Elizabeth sent Ian's records to the California doctor.
"It was, I think, divine intervention that we got a phone call a few days later that said 'can you be in California in 12 hours?'," said Elizabeth Barnes.
The daytime show, The Doctors, also wanted its cameras rolling during the procedure.
The Barnes family got on the next plane to California. Once in California, Barnes had the outer edge of a hard contact inserted onto his cornea to flatten it.
"He put stitches into my left eye for my astigmatism, and following that I had the procedure which he patented," Barnes said. "They apply this vitamin mixture, which he patented, onto my eyes as I stared into an ultraviolet light for a half an hour."
Barnes had to rest his eyes for a bit, but his vision dramatically improved right away.
"I went from seeing 20/80 with sever shadowing and split vision, where it took me a half an hour just to read the 20/30 line, to seeing 20/30 with no hesitation at all," Barnes said.
The doctor ordered Barnes and his family to go site seeing in California, and for Barnes, it was like seeing in high definition.
"No more split vision, no more glares from lights," he said.
With things now in focus, Barnes is now able to enjoy the small things in life. School work is much easier now, and he can drive again.
"It's just allowed me to live a normal life," Barnes said. "Which a lot of people take for granted."
There's a chance Barnes might have to wear glasses or contacts. He is set up with his doctor in Ohio for that.
He said he is extremely grateful to Dr. Boxer Wachler and The Doctors TV show.
Barnes is a sophomore history and secondary education major at Geneva College. He wants to be a high school history teacher and coach basketball some day.
The Doctors episode featuring Barnes airs at 10 a.m. Thursday on WKBN.
