Jayden was a 13-year-old kid who loved playing video games with his friends when his world turned upside down. He began experiencing headaches- which at first, he and his mom attributed to increased screen time due to online school after the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. However, a regularly scheduled eye exam revealed swelling in the nerves behind his eye. The eye doctor immediately sent Jayden and his mom to Duke Neuro Ophthalmology unit where an MRI scan revealed the worst: a brain tumor. 

“It was eye opening,” said Jayden. “As soon as I was told something shifted. I don’t really know how to describe it, it was surreal.” 

Jayden then had to undergo several surgeries as well as radiation, which alongside the tumor, resulted in hearing loss and partial facial paralysis- meaning he lost the ability to blink his left eye. While he was in the hospital, he tested several different eye patches and medical devices to help with these deficits but was ultimately disappointed by what was on the market. They began brainstorming how they thought these devices could be improved, which is how Jayden decided on his wish: to participate in a biomedical engineering and business bootcamp at the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State with the goal of creating a prototype of new eye patch to bring to market.