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Family Weekly
July 19, 1959
Here is the touching story
of a brave mother and father
ivho conquered the tragedy of
raising three sightless babies
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More than 85 percent of a child's learning is
based on sight but not for afflicted Gail
Petraglia and her sister and brother.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MAXWELl COPLAN
How love saved
our blind triplets
by Marie Petraglia m mi to jom
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The triplets' home is a monument to man's basic
hi et's hope they live," the doctor had said after
I he'd brought my tiny premature triplets into
the world. And for the next five months we lived
on a fearful day-to-day basis, praying that they
could challenge the odds that were stacked so high
against them.
Slowly, the answer began to take form and it
was a wonderful answer.
Only 2 pounds at birth, they gained steadily
until they were almost 6V2 pounds each, and I
waited eagerly for the day I could take them home
and cuddle'them in my arms. I made special plans
to cope with the monumental task of raising three
infants all at once; bought the extra clothes, blan
kets, and diapers I'd need; and wondered if we
could afford a large, ground-floor apartment to
accommodate our new, big family.
Then in the midst of all this joyful anticipation
the terrible, heart-breaking blow struck. It might
have been less painful a few months earlier when
the struggle still was in doubt but now! The four
words in the hospital report almost shrieked:
"Your babies are blind."
How could God do this to me, I wondered. The
same God who had listened to, and answered, so
many of my devout pleas. How could He be so
cruel now? My head spun dizzily as I groped for
the answer, and for days I lay on my bed and cried
In frustration. Frank, my husband, patiently tried
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m. ros
goodness.
to lead me back from my despair. He placed my
Bible and rosary on the night table where they
would be within reach. He sat on the side of my
bed one day, patted my hand gently, and reached
for my heart with his soft words. . ' ' uv
"Marie, you have a right to cry." he said. You
might even have a right to be bitter. But thiM
about our babies. They have no sight, but they do
have a mother. And they need a mother's wye
more desperately than other babies. Without V.
they don't have a chance. You're not going to take
that away from them, too, are you?" ,
The answer was in my heart before Frank
finished. "When can we bring our babies home.
I replied. ,
I had to wait 15 months before I could take the
triplets from the hospital. During this time we
tried to find out why the babies were blind, we
had them examined by eye specialists, and I
wrote letters to Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hos
pital, the Leahy Clinic, and other research centers
for information. When the answer finally came,
reopened all the wounds. , .
The triplets were not born blind, as we had wen
told, but had been blinded during the early weej
of their struggle for life. They were victims
retrolental fibroplasia-damage to the im"ia,j
retina of the eye. And, the doctors agreed, the cw
pnt was the least likely of all suspects-oxy
The triplets learned
Ironically, the concentrated flow of oxygen into
the incubator, which helped save their lives
shortly after birth, also caused the injuries that
doomed them to permanent darkness. '
Thousands of premature babies had been blinded
in the same manner. To add to the irony of our
own tragedy, medical research turned up the cause
of the blindness just weeks after our triplets were
born. It was a tremendous step forward but, of
course, it was too late for our-babies.
Appropriately enough, it was Mother's Day, 1954,
when my babies, Donna Lee, Gail Ann, and
Steven, were permitted to come home. We brought
them into a second-floor, five-room apartment in
a crowded Bronx, N. Y., housing project. Without
a yard or play area, it was hardly an ideal home
for three infants requiring constant attention. But
the $54 rent was an important consideration, since
Frank's salary as a restaurant worker was only
$60 a week plus tips.
While three babies would be challenge enough
for the most capable mother, . raising three blind
babies was a frightening prospect. What mother is
equipped for this?
Ater 15 months, the babies had made only slight
physical progress. Their heads rolled from side to
side, they couldn't use their hands and, having
been confined to hospital cribs for so long, they
to speak by placing their hands on Mrs. Petraglia's
didn't like to be touched or held. In their strange
new environment, Steven and Gail soon took to
tantrums. Steven would bang his head severely on
the bedpost, and the resultant cuts and bruises
only added to his frustration. Gail pulled out her
hair until she was completely bald.
More than 85 percent of an infant's learning is
based on sight. We found out that simple things
like chewing solid foods also fell into the category
of visual imitation and was not a natural instinct.
To teach the triplets to chew, we had to manipulate
their jaws with our hands. To encourage them to
talk, we placed their hands on our mouths so they
could feel where the sounds came from, and then
put their hands on their own mouths.
One of the most difficult problems was teaching
them to walk. They dragged themselves along on
their buttocks until they were 3 years old, even
though we tried every conceivable means of en
couraging them to step out.
We massaged their legs to strengthen the unused
muscles, put bells on their shoes, played games
and made up songs, but nothing seemed to work.
Often Frank and I would wind up a long evening
of training by crying on each other's shoulder.
But "we'd be back trying again the next day.
When little Stevie finally took his first steps I
almost became hysterical with joy.
We leaned heavily on prayer during this criti
mouth and "feeling" words, then touching their own mouths.
cal period, and we showered all the love that was
within us on our babies. Before long, they re
sponded affectionately, too, and began to like
sitting on a lap or being cuddled. It was then that
our-work began to bear fruit.
While the triplets' first steps were a thrill, this
development also brought about another problem.
Now we had to cope with the hazards of our apart
ment metal door jambs, doors that opened in,
sharp-edged furniture to protect the babies from
serious injury as they toddled about.
Frank and I tried walking through the apart
ment with our eyes shut to understand the diffi
culties the triplets would encounter. We then made
the apartment as safe as possible, but still there
were daily bumps, bruises, and cuts.
Visiting relatives and friends were inclined to
rush to the triplets' aid in almost any difficult situ
ation. We promptly discouraged this, explaining
that the children had to help themselves as much
as possible in conquering the darkness. I'm sure
they thought us very cruel at the time.
Once the children learned to walk, we enrolled
them at the New York Institute for the Edu
cation of the Blind. This was a bold undertaking,
since the children had never been beyond the
sound of my voice and we didn't know how they
would respond under another's supervision. As a
" (Continued on page 9)
Family Weekly, July 1$, IIS$
family Weekly, July 19, 1S9
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