COLLEGE STATION, Texas — "It can live in my head forever," Jared said. "That would be the most amazing thing because I could wake up tomorrow and not be able to see it all."
2020 was a trying time around the globe and was especially tough on Jared Dey, who suffered stage four kidney failure and was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy after two surgeries to attempt to repair his sight, he had completely lost vision in his left eye. Doctors told him he had six months before he'd completely lose his vision, and it was then the visual bucket list was born.
"I took the six months to heart, I feel like as anybody would," Jared said. "I immediately started writing the list from there and the first one on the list was seeing my wife walk down the aisle."
"While limited and blurry, Jared can still see out of his right eye and on March 19th, 2022 he was able to watch his wife, Karina walk down the aisle. From there, the bucket list continued to grow and as a lifelong Aggie fan, he wanted to encapsulate what it look like to walk out of the tunnel at Kyle Field. Last September, he crossed it off the list.
"You go from that dark into the light and you just notice like the sea of seats and I broke down and just started crying," Jared said.
Jared's been able to cross a lot of items off his list, like meeting country singer Cody Johnson, attending a World Series game and even throwing out the first pitch at a Miami Marlins game, but with the help of the 12th Man Foundation, August 31st might be his biggest day for the list yet.
Jared will watch the Aggies kick off their 2024 season on the sideline. He'll be a guest at ESPN's College GameDay and he'll meet Pat McAfee.
"It is one of the things that I am nonstop looking forward to right now," Jared said. "I hope and pray that my vision is stays the same as it is right now but even if it doesn't, it's gonna be an electrifying feeling being out there.
Not every day is a bucket list kind of day for Jared but the overwhelming support he's received from family, friends, and even strangers is what makes the dark days a little brighter.
Four years after the diagnosis and doctors say it's nothing short of a miracle that Jared still has some vision in his right eye. Never knowing what tomorrow will bring his message to everyone is simple.
"I don't think anybody really wants to be on their last days going, 'Man I wish I would have done that, I wish I would have had that experience at least once in my life.' That's kind of what I, I've been trying to share with people now is that don't wait, don't take a single moment for granted."
Jared will be back in College Station at the end of August where he'll watch the Aggies take on the fighting Irish from the sideline of Kyle Field.
For more on Jared's visual bucket list, check out his website: https://www.jareddey.org/visual-bucket-list
