StemCell Therapy

St. Clair's Ben Davidson goes for a layup surrounded by Lake Shore defenders during a basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017 at St. Clair High School.(Photo: JEFFREY M. SMITH, TIMES HERALD)Buy Photo

Ben Davidson has never been afraid of a challenge.

When he arrived at St. Clair High School, he didn't shy away from taking on a leadership role on the boys varsity basketball team. Now a junior, he has worked himself into being one of the best athletes in the Blue Water Area.

But recently Davidson faced a challenge that might just be the most difficult one he has faced in his life. And after having gone through a trying three week period, in which he was basically blind for four days, Davidson and his parents Diane and Jon have a totally different perspective on life.

"It was one of the most frightening things of my life," Ben's mother Diane Trout-Davidson said. "To see your kid scared and you are trying not to be scared."

St. Clair's Ben Davidson takes a shot during a basketball game Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 at St. Clair High School.(Photo: JEFFREY M. SMITH, TIMES HERALD)

The entire ordeal started late in the Saints boys season. Ben had been fighting what appeared to be the fluwhen he woke up feeling far different than ever before.

"I got really sick with the flu and it was bothering me," he recalled. "I had congestion problems. I just thought I was really sick and that day I woke up and I couldn't see. Light really bothered me and it was really hard to open my eyes and see. But it was a game day so I tried to go to school. I went and the first hour I couldn't do anything. I went to the office and they took me to an emergency eye wash station and tried to wash out my eyes.

"I couldn't play in the game that day and I went to Mercy Hospital in Detroit to see a special ophthalmologist. They told me I had ulcers in my eye andscratches on my corneas. I had two in my left eye and one in my right eye. They actually said they had never seen that before."

The diagnosis was just the beginning of what would be a grueling process the next several days. Davidson's parents helped treat Ben on an hourly basis and fought through fatigue to care for their son, applying eye drops every hour.

"It got really scary," Diane said. "He was in so much pain and light hurt his eyes. Your mind goes to dark places. What if he doesn't get his sight all of the way back? We were lucky. We took care of it and went to the doctor five days in a row. The first few days he wasn't getting better. But finally last Thursday he was 100 percent healed. I think this has impacted him from the little he has shared with me.

"It really scared him. So many kids think they are indestructible and he realized how lucky he is. I try to find some good in it. We spent a lot of time together as a family. We had to wake him up every hour to put antibiotics eye drops in his eyes. He said to me last week 'I really appreciate what you did for me. I know it was really hard for you.' When you said that, it was all worthwhile."

Jon, Ben and Diane Davidson at Parent night this season.(Photo: Submitted photo)

As Davidson improved, he was able to return to the court. But he wasn't the same. He played in the Saints final few games and recorded his lowest-scoring outputs of the season.

"During the two district games I was probably at 50 or 60 percent," Ben said. "It was hard. It was frustrating. I wasn't able to play up to my potential. I just tried to bring anything I could bring. It was blurry and a lot of times when I was passing the ball, I was just looking for the blue jersey. Irealized that life had more than just basketball at that moment.

"I couldn't see for four days. I couldn't open my eyes other than to put drops in them. It made me think life is more than basketball.I realized you have to be thankful to have eyesight. Those four days were the most miserable of my life. My eyes were killing me. If I opened my eyes they were blood red. It was scary. I was scared I would never see again. After four days I could see with sunglasses on."

After the season concluded and Ben reflected back on the situation, his parents said they started to see subtle changes in him.

"My wife and I noticed how thankful he was," Jon Davidson said. "He would tell us thank you 20 times, and you don't normally get that out of a teenage boy. Every hour for two days we put drops in his eyes and then every two hours and every three hours and so forth. I appreciate that he was willing to have the drive to compete even though he wasn't 100 percent. He's been like that since he was a little kid.

"I hope he takes away from this not to take anything for granted. You never know what is going to happen."

St. Clair's Ben Davidson runs the ball during a football game Friday, September 30, 2016 at East China Stadium.(Photo: JEFFREY M. SMITH, TIMES HERALD)

With the off-season officially underway, Ben is back in the gym working out for his final year of high school athletics. He said he is more motivated than ever before failing to finish the season as strong as he had hoped.

"I was giving it my all but it wasnt there," Ben said. "I wasnt proud of my play at the end of the year. It was irritating to me. A lot of people at the New Haven game thought I was overrated and talked about too much. I want to show them I can play great basketball. I think hard times make me better.

"Anything that puts me through adversity. I still think about it every day that I couldnt give 100 percent of what I had in the district, especially in the New Haven game. I was embarrassed with myself. I have to keep working. Even though the season is over I'm in the gym every day. I'm not going to be able to play together. But I want to be the best I can be."

Contact Joseph Hayes at (810) 989-6268 or at jahayes@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Joseph_Hayes11.

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Battle for sight: St. Clair's Davidson bounces back from bout with blindness - Port Huron Times Herald

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