WNBA Star Fighting for Her Sight Brings Free Vision Care to South Side of Chicago

OneSight Diamond DeShields

Diamond DeShields was always a standout on the basketball court - even when she couldn't quite see the basket.

"I didn't even know something wasn't right. My vision had just always been messed up," DeShields, 26, recalls of growing up in College Park, Georgia. "On the court, the rim of the basket was blurred, like doubled. I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Countless expensive lenses and two surgeries later, DeShields, now shooting guard for the WNBA's Chicago Sky, today appreciates just how big a deal healthy, clear vision is. She spoke with PEOPLE following the two-day free eye clinic she hosted - along with Oakley and the global vision-care nonprofit OneSight June 18 and 19 in her own South Side Chicago neighborhood.

The clinic, the first in a series by OneSight and Oakley around the country this year, provided free eye exams and glasses to nearly 200 children and adults. Among them were the Humphrey family: Regina, James Jr. and James Sr. "Their house had just recently burned down and they lost everything," DeShields says. The trio was fitted with new eyeglasses and, for James Sr., a replacement for the glaucoma medication he lost in the fire.

"To see him walk right in and get what he needs, it was a powerful moment, an empowering moment for me," says DeShields. "And it's personal to me."

At the close of the two-day clinic, which had the feel of a festive block-party, OneSight President and Executive Director K-T- Overbey celebrated the work of volunteers and doctors. "Clear sight has the power to change lives," Overbey said.

Added DeShields, "I don't know how getting these glasses will change peoples' lives, but I do know my first glasses changed mine. They opened up the game of basketball to me and I wouldn't be playing at the level I am now without them."

'It's Personal'

One of four children being raised by a single mother, DeShields says that when she was a young girl she hesitated to "put another thing on my mom's plate" by complaining about her blurred vision. So it wasn't until DeShields was 15 and falling asleep in class, "I couldn't see the board and looking at it all blurry would make me sleepy," she says, that she told her mom and saw an ophthalmologist.

The diagnosis was Keratoconus, a progressive thinning and bulging of the cornea like a cone that distorts vision. The treatment is glass contact lenses that cost a whopping $1,200 a pair with a prescription that changed every 4 to 6 months, due to the progressive nature of the disorder.

"Financially, it was tough," recalls DeShields, who first wore less-expensive prescription eyeglasses to correct her vision. She remembers marveling out the car window on the ride home, "Wow, mom! Look at the leaves on the trees! They were so clear."

Today, she wears the contact lenses and, when she's on the basketball court, special anti-shatter Oakley eyewear to protect her eyes and the glass lenses. She's had two surgeries - one on each eye and the most recent in February - to try to halt the progression of the disease.

OneSight Diamond DeShields playing with children

"I'm blessed. Without the resources that I have to be able to get treatment, I don't know what my sight would be like," DeShields says. "I guess that's why I'm so passionate about reaching back."

A week later, she is about to head into practice with the Sky and she still can't shake some of the sights at the OneSight clinic. There was an older man there who had put on glasses for the first time in 20 years - and a little boy who got his first glasses and really looked at his own face for the first time. It was just so inspirational I wanted to cry."