SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A San Diego man received an incredible gift for Father's Day when he was able to see in color for the very first time.
While most people are able to see living color, some 300 million people around the world only see a dull grey - often indistinguishable. In fact, colorblindness afflicts one of every twelve men, while it's far more rare in women.
When Erick Molina was 21-years-old, his red-green colorblindness was diagnosed, but now at the age of 44, there is a life-changing correction through revolutionary glasses.
While there is no cure for colorblindness, the glasses are helping enhance what once were in Erick's eyes muted shades of color into a more visually powerful palette.
A company in the Bay Area called En Chroma designed the special lenses which enable the color blind to see what they have been missing out on. The lenses do not work for everyone, but for most they can significantly enhance their once poor color vision.
Erick's daughters submitted their father's story as part of a special Father's Day contest held by En Chroma. The company also offered a pair of the $450 color-boosting spectacles to other San Diego color-blind fathers.
It's an early Father's Day gift that Erick said will now help brighten the rest of his life.
The glasses are not a cure for colorblindness, but rather a form of correcting the condition. They have been effective in about 80-percent of all colorblind people who have tried them.