Meet Meagan Oberle of Highlands Ranch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meagan Oberle.

Hi Meagan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In April of 2021, my husband and I contracted covid. We were scheduled to get the vaccine two days after we were diagnosed. We quarantined and stayed home to get better. I slowly started to get better and his cough persisted. I found under cover cough meds and lots of vitamins to help him. Although? his energy came back and no fever for weeks, his cough persisted. He cleaned out the garage one thursday firing his recovery and on friday woke up so sick. I had taken him to the ER the week prior. They had done a chest x ray and said he was fine, didn’t prescribe anything except for an inhaler. He drove himself to ER and was declared septic. After that a nightmare ensued…two weeks after check in he was put on a ventilator. I had him transferred to Anschutz via flight for life. He spent 5 weeks there and ultimately lost his life to COVID on June 30th, 2021.
His death and the trauma of the COVID unit and ICU took its toll. I had also largely been absent from my son’s life.
On December 20th, I was testing out a kid’s dirt bike in a neighbor’s backyard. I lost control of the bike, I think because my nervous system was so dysregulated. We believe I hit a small tree and the handle bar of the bike went through my left eye. I went to urgent care and then was ultimately transferred to Anshutz, via flight for life. It was surreal to be back where my late husband had spent 5 weeks and had passed away.
I ultimately lost my left eye. A very dark period ensued. I was taken care of by an incredible village of friends and family.
At times I still mourn all that has been lost. In order to move forward, I realized I had to turn this pain into something positive in the world.
Receiving my prosthetic eye was such a light at the end of a dark tunnel. I realized many people’s prosthetic eyes are not covered by insurance, including mine. So I’ve started a non profit called In the Blink to help people deal with grief, eye loss and to provide prosthetic eyes for those in need.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not smooth at all. First, recovering from the accident. I was dealing with three forms of loss: 1. The way I looked 2. The physical pain in what remained of the eye was unbearable 3. The loss of vision. I had had PRK 20 years prior and my left eye had been adjusted to see far away and my right eye to see close up, so after losing my left eye, I was declared legally blind and can only see 12 inches in front of my face.
Learning to drive and navigate the world with one poor eye has been challenging.

Additionally, forming a non profit was more challenging than I thought – but I’m so happy it’s here and I’m so excited to provide prosthetic eyes for those in need!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Prior to having my son, I was an English teacher. After my husband passed away, the school I had taught at asked me to come back and teach Mindfulness. It was a wonderful three years and very therapeutic. I not only learned a lot about mindfulness practices and how to incorporate them into my life but the students always teach me so much about hope and resilience.
This year I decided to take a step back and 100% focus on In the Blink. I’m so excited about where it’s going and the people it can help. my website www.meaganoberle.com discusses our were efforts and you can go to www.intheblinkltd.com to donate and apply for an eye!

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
So… lately… just living with one eye feels risky. My fiancé helps me to take fun and physical risks like jumping off a cliff – my depth perception is off with only having one eye, so heights can be extra anxiety inducing. Also skiing (the sky and snow all look the same – flat!). Playing sports where I can look silly because I can’t really see the ball. Learning to laugh at myself and keep going.
Starting this non profit and podcast has been really risky but it just got to a point where I knew I couldn’t not do it… the universe’s nudge was too strong.

Pricing:

• $4,500 to get a prosthetic eye

Contact Info:

• Website: www.meaganoberle.com and www.intheblinkltd.com
• Instagram: intheblinklimited
• Facebook: meagan oberle

Image Credits
Putnam Creative