Have you seen the video of 12 year old Jonathan Jones of Lakeview High School putting on a special pair of glasses so he can see color? Jonathan is severely color blind and the emotional response from him seeing color for the first time is a wonderful thing to watch.

That video has gone viral around the world. Saturday I had the opportunity to visit with Jonathan and his mother, Carole on KLQP radio. Carole told me since the video was posted they have been swamped with doing interview after interview. They’ve been contacted by Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS to name just a few. Major newspapers like the New York Post and major internet websites have also contacted them. They even did an interview with the Australian media. Local television stations in the cities have aired their story. It is fun to watch a local story go viral on the internet and then have the national press pick up the story. I remember last spring when my good friends, the Tucketts, from Madison had the same experience with their son, Isaiah. Isaiah sold enough cupcakes and then took his whole family to Disneyland. The internet exploded and the national press were all over that feel good story. The fame lasts about a week, but what an experience for the families and communities in which they live.

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I learned from talking with Jonathan’s mother Carole, that people who have color blindness have different degrees of it. She said it is genetic and some of her family suffer from color blindness as well. Jonathan described his color blindness as muddy, grey and dark vision. How awful that must be to see the world like that. So when you see him put those glasses on and his reaction to seeing color for the first time, it is absolutely amazing to watch. I didn’t know anything about color blindness before this story. In the last few days I have researched the subject and am amazed at how many people have this. In talking with a few people, I have found out people that I know are color blind. I had no idea! So this has been a real eye opener for me. I will not take my eyesight for granted anymore, when I see vivid colors.

Carole said the response they have gotten since posting the video on Twitter has been so overwhelming. She feels God is using this moment to help so many people that are color blind. As of Sunday over 13 million people have viewed the video on Twitter. They set up a GoFund Me page for the purpose of helping other people, and as of Sunday over $24,000 has been raised to purchase glasses so people can see color. There are many good people in the world and this is proof of that. I’m excited to know that hundreds of people will be helped and have a experience like Jonathan had this past week.

You can listen to my interview with Carole and Jonathan by clicking on the interview link.