Jennifer Matthews: Some call her the bionic woman. Others call her a medical miracle. But Cheri Robertson has given herself another title.
Cheri Robertson: I just call myself the robo-chick.
Jennifer Matthews: Cheri is blind, but this device allows her to see not with her eyes but with her brain.
15 years ago, Cheri lost both of her eyes in a car accident. She was just 19 years old.
Cheri Robertson: When I realized, yes, I am going to be blind, I thought, I guess I'm going to learn to do things a little differently now.
Jennifer Matthews: And she did. Cheri traveled to Portugal to become the 16th person in the world to have special electrodes implanted in her brain. With the help of a device, she could see again.
Cheri Robertson: I said, 'Oh my God, I can see it. I can see it. I was just so excited.
Jennifer Matthews: Neurosurgeon Kenneth Smith says the procedure is the first to reverse blindness in patients without eyes.
Kenneth Smith: They are really seeing. The brain is getting impulses just like when you and I see.
Jennifer Matthews: A camera on the tip of Cheri's glasses sends signals to a computer that's strapped around her waist. The computer then stimulates electrodes in the brain through a cord that attaches to the head. Patients see flashes of light and outlines of objects.
Cheri Robertson: Whatever I see is just two flashes of light, so I know something is there.
Jennifer Matthews: Cheri says support from her mom and the local Lion's Club keeps her spirits high.
Cheri Robertson: If I was all depressed, I couldn't affect anybody's life for the good, and I want to make a difference.
Jennifer Matthews: Friends, family and doctors say she already has.
This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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