David Joy lost eyesight but rebuilt life with with DRS support

David Joy stopped breathing on a Seattle operating table in 2022. In the time it took medical staff to resuscitate him, his eyesight had been stolen.

Joy, who was an 11-year veteran Boeing employee, was home from work when he began to feel a searing pain. He drove himself to the hospital where he learned he  was having a major heart attack and in immediate need of a quintuple bypass.

“I ended up coding during the surgery,” he said. “They ended up getting me back, but I had spent too much time without oxygen. It took the blood flow away from my eyeballs, and those died. I woke up from a coma and was blind.”

Joy had also lost temporary use of his feet and hands. He said when hospital staff rolled him out and put him in his wife’s car, they did so without linking him to any social services or counseling.

“I had lost everything,” he said. “I was making over six figures. I had the world in my hands. Overnight, my world was different. We knew we were going to lose the vehicles. We knew, we were going to lose the house. I had no job coming out of this.”

Despite those realities and his self-worth reeling, Joy said he knew he would be OK.

Joy said his wife of 15 years, Danielle, gave him the support he needed to fight to recover and rebuild his life.

“I was unable to feed or bathe myself,” Joy said. “She was there to cook food and take care of me. She took me to all my doctor’s appointments and made sure my medications were filled. My wife always celebrated every accomplishment of mine, no matter how small.”

His brother convinced him to leave the dreary, wet climate of Seattle, for the sun-drenched plains of Oklahoma. His sister-in-law who was working in occupational therapy began calling to find him support.

“Amazing as it sounds, three days later DRS called me back and was already making an appointment to come meet me,” Joy said. “My brother’s wife was the blessing in the situation.”

For more than a year, DRS has been working with Joy and helping him develop the skills needed to be independent and have a career. He recently graduated from DRS’ Business Enterprise Program. BEP provides employment opportunities for people who are legally blind by assisting them in becoming licensed managers and establishing food service operations across the state.

Joy said he worried such work opportunities would be beyond his ability, but DRS’ Cheryl Snow who worked his case refused to let him give up.

“Cheryl was my cheerleader,” he said. “I was thinking ‘I can’t do this,’ and she said, ‘yes, you can.’”

He was also connected with DRS’ Hannah Dangle who got him comfortable using a computer, something he was not used to doing even when he had his eyesight.

“They have given me access to a world outside of my home,” Joy said.