Visually impaired cancer survivor cheers everyone at hospital with his incredible artistry

Is it possible to create pieces of art without having any vision? Turns out, being visually impaired does not restrict a person from pursuing what they are truly passionate about. A man named Chris Vines refused to let go of his artistic talents despite suffering from multiple serious ailments, including loss of eyesight. According to ABC News, Vines is also a three-time cancer survivor who had permanent kidney damage and has been spending a major share of his days undergoing dialysis. But being a sketch artist, Vines never lost his passion for art and has been using his talents to bring joy to people around him.

"We found out about his hidden talent a few months ago when he decided to start sharing his drawings," clinical nurse Sharon Carlin told the outlet about Vines. "For people with chronic health conditions, it takes up a lot of their time and to have a little bit of light relief now and then is great for them and great for the staff too." Carlin and Vines struck up a friendship after Vines started kidney dialysis at the Hervey Bay Hospital near Brisbane earlier in 2024. The 81-year-old Vines is legally blind and has to remain hooked up to dialysis machines in a critical care ward for about 15 hours a week.

"Very happy with being alive," Vines admitted to the outlet, while thinking about the next piece of art he would create once he reached home. "He gets them printed on the nicest paper he can find and then brings in these secret envelopes, drops them at the desk and doesn't say anything," Carlin shared. "You know he's been working hard because those eyes don't work as well as they used to." Vines lost vision in his left eye back in 2016 but he continued to draw either from his own inspiration or by taking requests from doctors, nurses and fellow patients at the hospital.

Carlin revealed that Vines has drawn various animals like a sloth, eagle, magpie and even a kookaburra. "He's very modest about it all but he has brought smiles and sunshine to everyone in there, it makes their day a little brighter," she added. Vines was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1995 and he had chemotherapy but his cancer returned in 2001 and 2008. Some of the side effects of his cancer were losing vision in his left eye, myopathy in his legs and damage to his kidney.

"I just concentrate on the drawing and it takes my mind off all my problems, makes life easy and relaxing," Vines shared, adding that his community continued to grow as he kept sharing his art with others. "I don't need a picture—I can just draw. I've given people pictures, why not? I'd rather give them away to people and make them happy." Most of Vines' sketches are shown in black and white and that makes us wonder how blind folks can differentiate between various colors.

In a YouTube video posted by Cut, a few kids were brought in to describe what colors "look" like to a visually impaired man named Mack. Mack explained to the kids that he had been blind since birth and wanted to understand colors. “When you think of colors, what do you think of?” he asked. The kids went on to associate different materials, objects, feelings and sounds with colors like blue, red, green, yellow and pink. “I learn something new every day,” Mack said at the end of the video, satisfied with the adorable descriptions given to him by the kids.