Against the Odds

By Jeanne McClellan

When a little blind boy was born in small rural village in communist controlled Romania in 1985, no one could have imagined the story that would unfold.

Nicolae Crisan was born with detached retinas in both eyes. Living under the tyranny of a dictator, and in a country with primitive medical care, any hope of Nicolae gaining some sight through surgery was only a dream for his family.

But in 1988, when Nicolae was three years old, circumstances enabled a momentous decision. Accompanied by only his grandfather and leaving his parents and family behind, little Nicolae came to the United States seeking care. They heard remedial surgery was available at Detroit Children’s Hospital in tandem with the prestigious William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Soon after their arrival, Nicolae received sight restoring operations. At the age of three, Nicolae wore thick glasses, but for the first time in his young life, he could see.

Within the next five years, after the revolution that killed Romania’s brutal ruler, the remainder of Nicolae’s family followed to immigrate to the United States and Nicolae settled into his new life with new sight, his parents, and his extended family in a new land.  “Yes,” chuckles Nicolae, “as the family lore goes, I brought them all to America.”

The youngster attended local elementary and middle schools, where he not only attended regular classes but also visually impaired (VI) classes, such as Braille, white cane instruction and typing lessons.  But things changed when the middle-schooler got a laptop.

Unbeknownst to his teachers, Nicolae was not always performing the tasks he was assigned. Instead, he sat at his desk writing code. Yes, that’s right, writing code and designing websites. I’d say that is the very definition of precocious! Little did he know, he had stumbled on to a lifelong passion as well as the rudiments of a viable career.

His love affair with the computer continued into high school.  Most of his free time, while not necessarily in other teenage pursuits with friends, was spent on the computer.  He had a nucleus of friends and was accepted by his sighted and visually impaired peers. He continued to learn, and he even helped his VI teachers when they had trouble with their computers. He became known as a “computer kid.” He would go into the library and work just to continue his exploration of the machine and the librarian knew he could be left alone and was adept at the computer. Nicolae remarks, “they left me alone because they knew that I knew what I was doing.”

When college and other choices loomed on the horizon, Nicolae already had a particular mindset. He had already tasted the freedom of helping others solve problems, and his desire for independence and his entrepreneurial outlook were firmly ensconced in his personality. “I knew I could never be a company man or a nine to five kind of guy,” Nicolae reflects. So, after dabbling in college, he began to work as an independent contractor developing websites and providing other consulting services. Then in 2017, an opportunity found him and put him in good stead to start his current business, Profound IT Services.

A gentleman who ran a non-profit business catering to teaching visually impaired people how to operate computers with adaptive equipment was preparing to wean himself from daily operations and was seeking a successor. Nicolae seized the moment. Within months, along with one other colleague, he was overseeing nearly every aspect of the company, from teaching the students to bookkeeping to assisting other staff.

Prior to this, he approached the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons for training and developed a good working relationship with the Bureau in the process. He was working hard and admits that his favorite aspect of his job was training others. He was creating his niche by combining his love of teaching with his expertise in computers, and a new career path was emerging as a result.

By 2020, the non-profit business owner had dissolved the company and Nicolae was free to form Profound IT Services and inherited many of the contracts, including with the Bureau.

Since starting as a teacher, he says he has probably taught about 200-300 people. One of his past students praises Nicolae commenting, “I learned more from Nicolae in a few sessions than I learned in a six-month residential program in California.” I am receiving training from Nicolae myself and it has been a life saver, since I have recently lost vision and am trying to work. Nicolae says his favorite student is someone “who is a willing learner and wants to work.” 

He is also a devout Christian, crediting his parents’ example as the foundation for his own faith. He remarks, “I hope people can understand that there is something bigger than them who is always there to help.”

Nicolae has carved out a full and meaningful life against the odds. His need for medical care transformed his life and the lives of his relatives. He now has his parents and extended family nearby, a loving wife, and a growing family.  We are the lucky beneficiaries of his expertise and talent.

Once again, Nicolae proves there is life after blindness.

About the author:

Jeanne McClellan was born and raised in Royal Oak Michigan, got a master's degree in psychology, and worked for approximately 30 years as a counselor and social worker until she retired in 2009.