Doctors told the Dillon family that their newborn son Dougie's shuttering eyes were common -- that babies are born virtually blind anyway, and that his sight would come soon.
But months later when Dougie still couldn't see, doctors diagnosed the now-20-month-old, with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), a condition that causes blindness, MyFoxPhilly.com reports. Now the family from Maple Shade, N.J., is raising money to get their son controversial treatment to restore some of his sight -- at a cost of $30,000 and a trip to China, according to the news outlet.
"We were told there was nothing we can do to improve his vision, but we refused to believe that was it," Dougie's fundraising website states. "After researching we came across a site for stem cell treatments in China that can help with ONH."
That treatment includes a month-long series of shots injected into Dougie's arm -- a treatment not approved by the FDA, which is why they'll travel abroad. It might not restore sight completely, but it could make things a bit clearer for the young boy, MyFoxPhilly.com reports.
"At the end of the day if I didn't do it, I didn't do my all," Dougie's mother Nicole told the news outlet. "So I feel like I owe it to him to try and give him the best life that he can have."
Want to help Dougie? Find out more at the family's fundraising site.