'What brave looks like': Foxtrap boy, 16, looks to Dubai to restore eyesight

Jakob Dawe is proud of his video collection. 

Most Saturdays, the 16-year-old, who has autism, can be found at Value Village going through the "new" arrivals section. 

"He started five years ago with VHS tapes," said Mark Dawe, Jakob's father. "He has about 800 tapes. Now it's DVDs, and he has at least as many.". 

But for the past few months, Jakob hasn't been able to watch any of his videos. He can only listen. 

'Why don't my eyes work, dad?'

Jakob was born prematurely, at 24 weeks. He weighed just under two pounds. 

"With that comes a lot of health complications," said Mark Dawe. 

One of those complications is retinopathy of prematurity, a disease that causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina. 

"He's had poor vision his whole life, but he's adapted," Dawe said. 

But in August, another complication, called optic nerve atrophy, left Jakob, a Grade 10 student at Queen Elizabeth High School in Foxtrap, completely blind. 

"August and September were very tough.  We had a weekend where it was just … 'Why don't my eyes work, Dad? Why don't my eyes work?'" 

 "The doctors are working on it. Mom and Dad are doing everything we can," Dawe told his son. 

Dubai option

While it isn't physically possibly for Mark and Cindi Dawe to go to the ends of the earth for Jakob, they're coming pretty close. 

In late January, they'll head to Dubai, where Jakob will undergo an experimental treatment they hope will give their son his sight back. 

"It's an FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)-sanctioned clinical trial through the National Institutes of Health in the United States," explained Mark Dawe.

The procedure, which isn't done anywhere in North America on patients under 18, will take stem cells from his hip, and transplant them into the optic nerve. 

"Our hope is that it gets him at least some usable sight and keeps that optic nerve alive."

It's not something that comes cheap, but a fundraising campaign had surpassed its $30,000 goal by Sunday night.

Mark Dawe said the chances of Jakob getting his eyesight back are good, and age is on his side. 

"He's the youngest person to ever have it done … 60 to 70 per cent of the people who get it done have some or all of their sight restored."

If the treatment doesn't work, Dawe said, they'll keep trying. 

For now, the Saturday second-hand shopping excursions will continue. 

Jakob will add more videos to his collection, trusting that — someday soon — he'll be able to watch them again.