Bartholomew Lampion was blinded at the age of three, when surgeons reluctantly removed his eyes to save him from a fast-spreading cancer, but although eyeless, Barty regained his sight when he was thirteen. This sudden ascent from a decade of darkness into the glory of light was not brought about by the hands of a holy healer.
No celestial trumpets announced the restoration of his vision, just as none had announced his birth. A roller coaster had something to do with his recovery, as did a seagull. And you can t discount the importance of Barty s profound desire to make his mother proud of him before she died. The first time she died was the day Barty was born. January 6, 1965.