It was a slow day at Sears Optical in Portage, Mich., when optometrist Matt Parker got the most unusual request of his lifetime: Do you have any contact lenses that would fit a horse?

So began the story of an optometrist, a filly named Mordecais Miracle Chance, and a contact lens.

Mordecais Miracle Chance, a three-week-old filly, had sustained a severe injury that could have resulted in permanent loss of her right eye. The owner, Mary Lou Beyer, was desperate to help her foal, and Dr. Parker came to the rescue. Mary Lou asked me if I would mind coming by to take a look, and I said, Of course! Dr. Parker says, who took this unique patient on at no charge.

But Dr. Parker was stunned when he first examined the horse, he says. The eye appeared completely flattened and was oozing liquid. His diagnosis: full thickness corneal penetration with hypotony. It was scary. I had never seen anything like that before, he says.

Dr. Parker suggested that Ms. Beyer take the filly immediately to the veterinary hospital at Michigan State University, but Ms. Beyer did not have the money to pay for it. So, Dr. Parker got to work. He pried the horses lid open and dropped in the lens, which he hoped would have the same effect as a pressure bandage to allow the cornea to heal.

Due to the severity of the injury, Dr. Parker thought there might be a one-in-10 chance that the eye could be saved.

But, by the second visit, Mordecais Miracle Chance started to improve, and the eye continued to heal after each subsequent visit. After a few more contact lens replacements and a procedure by Dr. Parker and a local veterinarian to trim away some of the dead corneal tissue, Mordecai really did get her miracle.

In the end, the horse still was able to keep her eye and she has vision in the front, Dr. Parker says. Mordecai could one day still compete as a cutting horse (a horse used to separate individual cattle from the herd). She also seemed to enjoy her first taste of freedom after spending her initial few weeks of life sequestered in a barn with a makeshift eye shield consisting of pantyhose and a butter dish. Mary Lou told me that when the horse first got out of the barn after her eye healed, she was really hesitant at first, and then she took off running, Dr. Parker says.

As for Dr. Parker, he doesnt plan on expanding his patient base to four-legged creatures any time soon, but he says he wouldnt turn down a chance to help another animal in need. I dont think I would do this as a service, but my curiosity got the best of me. If I got a call that a ferret had a corneal abrasion and needed my help, Id do it again.