Steve
Patten would describe purple as a mellow, feminine, lighter color.
“It’s
a prettier blue,” he said while standing in the backyard of his Lindon home
Thursday, looking at a collection of colorful balloons.
Until
Thursday evening, the colorblind father and grandfather couldn’t see purple,
couldn’t distinguish light pink from white and had trouble with oranges and
reds, which could make understanding traffic lights difficult. He wasn’t a big
fan of trips to southern Utah, where the colors within the rocks looked bland
to him, could only see a few colors in a rainbow and didn’t understand the
beauty behind sunsets.
“Some
colors that are really pretty or bright are really dull to me,” he said.
Then,
Thursday evening, with his family around him, he put on a pair of glasses and
his backyard came alive.
A
few years ago, his wife, Diane, was looking for a gift for him and a friend
told her about glasses that help correct color blindness. They looked into
them, but Steve wasn’t willing to purchase the pricey glasses unless he could
try them on first, and they couldn’t find anywhere in the state where that
would be possible.
She
entered the 53-year-old to be a part of EnChroma’s Father’s Day color-blind
awareness campaign, and he was chosen to be one of the first dad testers.
EnChroma sent him two pairs of glasses, one to wear outside and one to wear
inside. The glasses aren’t a cure for color blindness, but can help people who
are colorblind see colors better.
He
was excited, but cautious prior to trying them on, unsure if they’d work for
him. He put them on and then almost immediately started pointing out the
differences in the world around him, like flowers that appeared brighter to
him, or different shades he hadn’t been able to distinguish before.
Before
putting on the glasses, he was able to identify four separate colors in the
balloon bouquet, unable to see the orange and purple ones. Diane had also told
him a carpet in their house, which he saw as tan, is actually green. She’d see
a sunset, which she loves, and ask him how many colors he
saw
in it.
“I’ve
always said I have to die first because I want to be in heaven when he sees
colors for the first time,” she said.
With
the glasses on, he took a tour of his backyard, occasionally taking the glasses
off and then putting them on again to see the difference the lenses make. He
said many of the colors looked more vibrant than before.
“This
flower is much prettier,” he said, stopping by one.
He
plans to wear the glasses when he drives around town so he can pick out
different colors. They’re also planning a trip to Canada in the fall, when
he’ll be able to see more of the autumn colors. But, Diane has more things she
wants him to fully see.
“I
foresee trips to Canyonlands in the future,” she said.
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