LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -Husker red, a blue sky and green grass. Things that many of us are used to seeing, but we might take that for granted.
One Lincoln teenager can’t see color very well, that was until his friends surprised him with a special birthday gift. What started as an argument with Zane Stubbendeck and his friends about what color a stain on his sock was turned into discovering that he was colorblind.
His friends talked about getting him the glasses that help colorblind people see colors, and it finally happened for Zane’s 19th birthday.
“I’ve heard of bricks being red, but I didn’t know how true that was,” said Zane.
Through Zane’s eyes, he sees a lot of grays.
“Like I know it’s green but I see gray,” said Zane.
That was until a few weeks ago. For his 19th birthday seven of his friends pitched in $250 total to get him a pair of EnChroma glasses, that help colorblind people see color. They even captured the moment when his world was brightened.
“I put them on and got emotional,” said Zane. “I was nervous that they wouldn’t work at first. Put on the glasses and immediately saw a red car and that was my first time seeing red.”
“I told him for a long time that it was going to happen I just didn’t know when,” said EJ Soucek, Zane’s friend. “So now that I was finally doing it for him I was very excited, but then he started crying and I had to hold my tears back.”
Zane’s friends have been by his side since high school, helping him pick out clothes and making sure he’s matching along the way. They’re the type of friends who are literally brightening his life.
“The only reason I was able to experience that is because of them so I couldn’t be any more grateful to have those type of people around me,” said Zane.
The EnChroma glasses that Zane has are for outdoor use, but the company is sending him a pair for indoors, free of charge. They’ve also made him a brand ambassador for the company.
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