Near drowning brought partially blind couple together
Knowing she was a good swimmer, he jumped into the sea to impress her despite his fear of water and being partially blind.
But Mr Ong Han Wei panicked as the waves overwhelmed him.
Verlyn, the girl he fancied, who was also partially blind, had to grab his arm and life vest to haul him back onto the jetty.
Mr Ong joked: "It was not a prince saving a damsel in distress but a beauty saving a beast."
Still, his efforts paid off as the pair dated shortly after that incident, which occurred during a holiday with their colleague at Tioman island in 2011.
In 2014, they got married and two years later, they welcomed their son, Veanson, who is now 19 months old.
The couple spoke to The New Paper last month at their four-room flat in Yishun, where they live with Mrs Ong's parents and a maid.
Mr Ong, 40, a guide coordinator at Dialogue in the Dark (DID), a teaching and learning facility at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, was diagnosed with macular coloboma when he was five.
Mrs Ong, 30, a clinic assistant, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of four. Both conditions led to vision loss. They don't know if their son has an eye condition as he is too young to have his eyes tested.
For them, parenting is more challenging as they cannot see Veanson clearly. Their maid and Mrs Ong's parents help with cooking, doing the laundry and taking Veanson out.
Mr Ong said: "Parenthood is tougher for us but at least we have each other."
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