Belli lost her sight in a matter of weeks in 2014 because of a severe case of optic neuritis – inflammation of an optic nerve that causes gradually blurry vision as the nerve could no longer interconnect with the brain. Until recently, dark shadows were the solitary thing she could make out, and she used a stick and numerous technological devices to help her move around. After undergoing stem cell therapy at Viezec, in which stem cells extracted from bone marrow in her hip were injected into a diverse area in each eye, she progressively recuperated some of her sight. She can now read menus and street signs, get around without her stick, and have seen her husband’s face for the first time in 4 years.