What did Ray Charles suffer from?
glaucoma
Charles started to lose his sight at the age of four or five, and was blind by the age of seven, apparently as a result of glaucoma.
Was Ray Charles actually blind?
Early Life. Ray Charles Robinson was born on September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia. Soon after his brother’s death, Charles gradually began to lose his sight. He was blind by the age of 7, and his mother sent him to a state-sponsored school, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St.
Did Ray Charles go blind from trauma?
Although the young Ray Charles—born Ray Charles Robinson—began to lose his sight at the age of 5, not long after witnessing his brother’s drowning, his eventual blindness was medical, not traumatic. At the age of 7, he became completely blind when his right eye was removed due to intense pain.
How old was Ray Charles when he lost his vision?
Charles himself was not born blind, but slowly started losing his vision at the age of four, due to what was later diagnosed as glaucoma. While neighbors in Charles’s hometown of Greenville, Florida pitied the boy, Charles’ mother Retha had no patience for sympathy.
How did Ray Charles help people with hearing loss?
After experiencing chronic ear troubles leading to temporary hearing loss, Charles incorporated the Robinson Foundation for Hearing Disorders in 1986. His foundation provided cochlear implants for low-income patients as well as funding towards research for hearing improvements.
How did Ray Charles die cause of death?
Ray was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 along with Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, James Brown, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and he was given a Grammy award in 1987 for lifetime achievement. Ray died on June 10, 2004 due to liver failure/hepatitis C in Beverly Hills, California.
Why did Ray Charles have a disability when he was born?
However, Charles was born in a time when blind and visual impairment was becoming less common in the United States. To maintain Jim Crow laws and practices, southern African Americans were not offered consistent health care, but white physicians began to prognose African Americans, as they knew it could be useful for the general population.