When U.S. Army Sergeant Russell Oxendine was hit by an IED in Afghanistan, everything changed in an instant. The blast severely injured the left side of his body and left him with devastating trauma to his left eye. After eight years of service, including two tours overseas, Russell faced a new kind of battle — one that would test his strength, patience, and resilience long after returning home.
Following his injury, Russell endured more than a dozen surgeries as doctors tried to save his eye and restore vision. “They tried everything,” he recalls. “But my optic nerve was ripped in half. The chances of regaining sight were slim.” Despite the grim outlook, he wasn’t ready to let go. For nearly three years, he fought to keep the eye, undergoing multiple procedures and long recovery periods.
Eventually, after the eye ruptured, there was no way to save it. Emergency surgery led him to Emma, the ocularist who would change his life in ways he never expected.
“When I first came out of surgery, I had lost all vision,” Russell says. “I didn’t want my eye removed, but once it was done, Emma made my prosthetic that same day.”
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Emma was meant to do this. She doesn’t just make eyes — she gives people their lives back.
At the time, Emma was early in her career — and Russell was one of her very first patients. From the beginning, their connection was instant. “She made me feel so comfortable, like family,” he says. “She never made me feel any kind of way about how I looked or what I’d been through. I love her to death for that.”
Before meeting Emma, Russell’s injuries had made him withdraw from the world. He rarely went out and stuck close to a small circle of friends. The damaged eye had developed a cataract, and his cornea had thinned from repeated surgeries. “It looked bad, and I just didn’t feel like myself,” he admits. But the transformation after receiving his prosthetic was life-changing.
“She did such a good job — you wouldn’t know it’s not real unless you knew me,” Russell says proudly. “It gave me my confidence back. I could look people in the eye again.”
Now, Russell makes the trip to see Emma about every six months for polishing or adjustments, usually making a day of it as he travels from near the South Carolina border. Over the years, he’s had six or seven prosthetics made — each one as natural-looking and comfortable as the last.
For Russell, his experience has been more than just medical — it’s been deeply personal. “It’s a god-given thing,” he says with a smile. “Emma was meant to do this. She doesn’t just make eyes — she gives people their lives back.”
From battlefield to healing, Russell’s story is one of courage, recovery, and renewed self-assurance — a testament to the power of compassion, craftsmanship, and the human spirit.