Hope Unseen Summary

Scotty Smiley, a retired United States Army Major, is inspirational, adaptable, faith-oriented, and determined. Scotty’s autobiography, Hope Unseen, shares his story of becoming the first blind active-duty officer in the military. In 2005, Scotty was involved in a bombing accident that resulted in a piece of shrapnel dissecting his left retina, penetrating his frontal bone, and shredding his right optical nerves and fibers (Smiley & Crandall, 2010, p. 67). As a result of this incident, Scotty was diagnosed with blindness in both eyes, temporary paralysis of the right side of his body, and bruising of his frontal lobe. Within Scotty’s story, he primarily focuses on his leading cause of disability, which is blindness. Blindness is defined as the inability to see or lack of …show more content…
To explain, a craniotomy serves to repair a skull fracture, remove a brain tumor, or relieve pressure in the brain (National Institutes of Health, n.d.). Secondly, retinal surgery serves to reattach the retina in hopes of salvaging vision (Emeh, 2023). Thirdly, prosthetic eyes, eye covers and a helmet are preventative interventions that serve to protect certain body structures and support proper body functioning. Scotty mentions no pharmacological interventions, however, common pharmacological interventions used with craniotomy patients include anticonvulsants, muscle relaxers, sedatives, and diuretics (MedicineNet, n.d.). Also, there are no mentioned or current pharmacological interventions that can improve or cure a diagnosis of blindness. Although Scotty’s injuries happened years ago, there are no up-to-date medical interventions that directly address blindness. Impacts of Interventions If successful, the benefits of the medical interventions mentioned above include repairing brain tissue and the skull, preservation of vision, enhanced appearance, and protection of certain body