The tumor had ruptured, leaking fluid into the front of his eye and causing the cloudy vision he experienced that morning. While the rupture caused immediate symptoms, doctors explained that it may have prevented an even worse outcome.

“If it hadn’t ruptured, the cancer could have spread into my brain, and I probably would have been gone within six months,” Hughes says.

Surgeons determined that the only way to stop the cancer was to remove his eye. The procedure was far from simple. Hughes remembers the challenges doctors faced and the difficult recovery that followed.

“They couldn’t get me intubated because my neck muscles were too thick,” he says. “I remember feeling a lot of pressure on my eye during the surgery. It wasn’t a fun time.”

After the operation, he spent several days in the hospital recovering. He wore an eye patch and a conformer—a clear plastic device placed in the socket to help maintain its shape while healing.

Despite the physical and emotional challenges, Hughes continued working for the sheriff’s department, often wearing a patch over his eye while performing light-duty assignments.

At the same time, life was presenting other challenges. His mother had recently passed away, his sister was undergoing cancer treatment, and the stress was taking a significant toll.

Then came another medical crisis.

Once he recovered, Hughes turned his attention to being fitted for a prosthetic eye. Initially, he worked with a family-owned ocularistry practice in Graham. However, during the fitting process there were issues with the fitting because Hughes was having a heart attack. Doctors later discovered that his left anterior descending artery was completely blocked.

“They told me I should have fallen over and died when I hit the floor,” Hughes says.

Remarkably, because he had maintained excellent physical health, his body had developed collateral blood vessels that continued supplying blood to his heart. Doctors told him it was a rare occurrence and that he had escaped without significant heart muscle damage.

“It was another lucky call,” he says.

Eventually, Hughes received a prosthetic eye, and the results were extraordinary.

“People would tell me they didn’t even know I had a prosthetic eye,” he says. “They matched it that well.”

Over the years, he continued receiving care through the practice and, eventually, from Emma, who carried on the tradition established by her father and uncle.

At first, Hughes admits he was uncertain about working with someone new.

“I was skeptical because I didn’t know who she was,” he says.

Those concerns quickly disappeared.

“Emma did an exquisite job,” Hughes says. “The first version didn’t feel quite right, and I told her. She adjusted it, put it back in, and it’s been wonderful ever since.”