When the bandages came off and Miguel Flores opened his new right eye for the very first time, he saw the two people he loved most.

"I saw my parents first. They looked happy and were smiling. My mom cried. I was amazed," said Flores, a Ballard High School student who underwent a cornea transplant on November 23.

Another emotional moment came a few weeks later, when Flores held a picture of a 20-year-old University of Washington student who died in a car accident.

Flores could not help but stare at the young man's right eye. "I saw his picture. He was the one who donated the cornea to me. It touched me when I saw his picture," said Flores.

He wrote a letter to the young man's parents. "I told them about me and said I was very thankful. I have a gift to cherish everyday and I think of them everyday," said Flores.

Since the age of eight, Flores has had problems in both of his eyes.

"With time, it was getting worse. The prognosis was he was going to end up blind. They operated on his worse eye," said Ballard Lions member Ted Peterson, who walked the Flores family through the paper work and medical procedures.

Peterson is fluent in Spanish and uses that ability to communicate with Flores' father Josue, who emigrated from Mexico.

The Ballard High School junior wore extremely thick glasses to make up for his bad eyesight. This led to teasing by fellow students who called him "four eyes."

The mean spirited taunts caused him to skip school all together at one point.

"He did not want to come to school. He hated school. He felt bad. He could not see the blackboard and people teased him," Nohra Giraldo, his teacher in the Proyecto Saber program that assists Hispanic students.

"He was very angry. I never saw him smile. He was sad and angry at the same time. He answered questions in a harsh tone," said Giraldo.

The Flores family lives in West Seattle. Flores leaves his home each day at 6 a.m. and rides two buses to get to Ballard. His father works for a catering service and did not have the income to pay for the operation.

The opportunity came when Giraldo invited Ted Peterson of the Ballard Lions to visit her class.

Peterson set up appointments for ten of Giraldo's Hispanic students who had vision problems and took them to Lens Crafters in Northgate to have their eyes examined.

Nine students received free glasses, paid for by the Ballard Lions.

Flores' problem was worse than the others. He was advised to see an ophthalmologist. The Ballard Lions paid for an examination at Eye Associates Northwest where he was examined by Dr. Thomas Gillette.

Flores had a condition called Keratoconus. "His cornea was marred and cone shaped. They suggested surgery," said Peterson.

Eye Associates Northwest and the Swedish Medical Center teamed up and agreed to do the $16,000 surgery for $6,500.

"It was a fantastic reduction in price," said Peterson.

The Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing split the cost of the operation with the Ballard Lions. The cornea came from the foundation's eye bank.

The surgery only took 45 minutes. "It scared me. It was sad, taking my eye out and getting the cornea of another person," said Flores.

The benefits of the cornea transplant will last Flores entire life.

"He came to school Monday with a big smile. He talked to the kids and they applauded. Now he is a completely changed kid," said Galindo.

Before the surgery, Galindo said Flores would hold books close to his face in order to read the words. Now his grades are getting better and he is doing well in class.

As far as subjects go, Flores likes science and history. His first love is art and he is developing that talent through a mail order correspondence course.

"We have seen an improvement in his homework and his writing. He takes less time to do it and is more organized. He's a good kid who works hard," said Galindo.

"It has changed my life. It's a big change. I'm very happy now. I can do my homework and not have to look close," said Flores.

"The Lions helped me a lot. He (Peterson) is always there for me. He was a big help," said Flores.

"I'm very thankful for God first, the family who gave the donation, the Ballard Lions and the doctors. I hope God will give them blessing," said Josue Flores, speaking in Spanish.

"I will be thankful forever," he said.