Brooklyn Woman Regains Sight After Several Surgeries

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the past year, 43-year-old Sandra Rosa sat in darkness.

All that changed Friday.

"I can see! I can see!" she said.

It's been an emotional time for the Brooklyn native. Last summer, diabetes robbed Rosa of her right leg, and two weeks later of her vision.

"I got to depend on everybody else to push me around, to see, to pick up my stuff, to eat," she told CBS2's Alex Denis, who was there as Rosa's bandage was removed.

Convinced she would see again, she ignored doctors who told her nothing could be done.

"I'm determined," she said. "I'm not going to sit down and wait."

But Rosa's condition was serious. She had retinal detachment and severe cataracts in both eyes.

Dr. Gennady Landa of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai knew the odds were against him.

When asked how severe Rosa's condition was, on a scale from 1 to 10, Landa said it was an 11.

Even still, he tried. Rosa's spirit inspired him.

Five surgeries later, she was in the dark reading letters in an eye exam.

"Thank you, thank you, Dr. Landa," she said.

The duo celebrated.

"I think it was great success definitely," Landa said. "I would say 50 percent of Sandra and 50 percent of mine. So it's our teamwork."

Now that Rosa can see, she can't take her eyes off of Edwin Crespo.

"The sight of my husband -- when I wasn't able to see him, that I could just hear him," she said.

With a new view on life, the couple is ready to start a new chapter.

Sandra will receive her glasses in just a few weeks, and Landa says her vision will only continue to improve.