From the Bench: The "Voice of the Indians" Ready for 33rd Season as He Battles Serious Eye Condition
By Jeff Toquinto on July 27, 2025 from Sports Blog
In a little more than a month, things will certainly seem like normal in the world of Bridgeport High School athletics and, in particular, the football program. On August 29, the Indians will look to defend their Class AAA title with an opener at Buckhannon-Upshur.
The team will be there. The coaching staff will be there. And for the 33rd year, the “Voice of the Indians” Travis Jones will be there making the call for fans on 103.3 WKMZ.
No real news there on any of those fronts.
Here is the thing that some of you may know, back in April there was a real concern for Jones that he would not be heading to Upshur County. In fact, there were concerns well beyond that on the health front.
“I took a nap the Sunday of the women’s national championship game (April 6) in the afternoon. When I woke up I had this little blurry spot in my right eye that I first thought was just some sleep it my eye,” said Jones. “Didn’t give it too much though, but when I went into darker environments I really noticed it wasn’t normal.”
Jones was not concerned. After all, he had – outside of having tubes put in his ear – no medical history to speak of. There were no surgeries, no serious illnesses, nothing that constituted doctor visits, regular or, in fact, none at all.
“I just that it was an eye infection. There was no pain with it, it didn’t itch,” he said. “That was a Sunday, and I didn’t see an optometrist until Tuesday because I knew it wasn’t normal. I figured I would get some drops, and I would be out of there.”
Jones’ assessment was wrong. Off the eye charts wrong.
“When I got the eye exam and they took x-rays, they could see swelling in my nerves,” said Jones. “Dr. (Jim) Fick was concerned enough to tell me I needed to get to Ruby (Memorial) because he told me I had something behind my optic nerve that was causing my eyeball to swell.”
Jones left knowing there was an optic nerve issue. He knew blood vessels were swollen. And, as many of us opt to do, his mind went in
the wrong direction.
the wrong direction.
“I was thinking brain bleed or something of that nature with the optic nerve involved,” he said. “It was alarming.”
He arrived at Ruby, and was there for 33 hours, more than 24 hours of that time in the emergency room with the final in a regular room before discharge. He had countless blood tests, an MRI, CT scans, and even a spinal tap.
“They were trying to rule things out as much as figure out what was going on,” Jones said. “They had a hard time figuring out what I had and what caused it.”
Eventually, the diagnosis was NAION. That is short for Non-arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy, which is a sudden, painless loss of vision in one eye caused by a lack of blood flow to the optic nerve.
The cause? Sleep apnea.
“I had a sudden drop off blood pressure from the apnea long enough that it cut off blood flow log enough for the nerve ending to die,” said Jones. “It’s like an eye stroke where, potentially, once the swelling goes down the vision returns to normal.”
The “potentially” he mentioned is tricky. Jones found out quickly that it was a low percentage that had vision return to normal. Even more concerning, he learned the situation could get worse.
The plan of attack was quick. Jones took an aggressive oral steroid to fight the swelling. During a visit to a neuro optometrist a month later, t
he swelling was gone as was the associated fluid that had also built up around the impacted area.
he swelling was gone as was the associated fluid that had also built up around the impacted area.
“From that I was told it wasn’t going to get any worse, but also that it wasn’t going to get any better,” he said.
Although he was capable of seeing things, there were – and still are – some vision problems. He said looking out of his right eye is like “looking through a window shade.” The other issue was bright lights, similar to what you see in gymnasiums where Jones does plenty of basketball games at BHS and plenty at the college level, are prominent.
“Yeah, there was concern. I wasn’t sure if I could do the games,” said Jones. “One thing I did do shortly after being diagnosed with NAION was to get into support groups on Facebook. I realized, after hearing about so many who can’t drive, or do daily tasks, or are considered legally blind, just how lucky I was. At the same time, I was still extremely concerned just a few months ago, but it’s eased because I’m the same now as the day I woke up from the nap.”
Jones said his body, and his brain, is adapting to it. He said he struggles with it less each day.
“The brain is an amazing organ,” he said. “It’s has adjusted and doesn’t impact my day-to-day activities much, but I do struggle reading, particularly smaller print on a computer screen where I have to close one eye to read. I also have issues with bright, fluorescent lighting.”
Whether it was going to be an issue for basketball got a test run starting Friday, July 18 in Charleston. Jones called the TBT games involving Best Virginia that concluded this past Tuesday, July 22.
“Actually, I wasn’t too anxious. I had been at the state softball and baseball tournament and stood in the broadcast areas to see if I could see the numbers and I could, and that was a really bright environment,” said Jones. “Still, I knew I was going to be under some bright lights at the Civic Center, and they’re right over the court. The good news is that everything went fine.”
As for football, Jones had already passed that test. He calls the game by primarily watching the contest through binoculars. He said with binoculars, his vision is much less affected.
“I don’t anticipate problems with football, but there will be a bit more challenging environments with basketball,” he said. “I may have to get glasses that are a bit darker if that’s the case.”
Here is the thing Jones is dealing with. There is nothing they can do. His vision is still pretty close to perfect, but he’s looking into glasses to compensate for his right eye problems. The issue has become more of an annoyance than a problem. He also knows that his left eye could face the same situation.
“I have to protect it, and I learned a lesson is that I never went to the doctor and, particularly at my age, I should be going to have my health check. I didn’t eat right, I didn’t get my blood pressure checked, and that’s changing,” said Jones.
So, what is he doing? For starters, he is seeing a doctor. Secondly, he monitors his blood pressure regularly and has begun eating better. And the key addition, Jones began using a CPAP machine for his apnea this week.
“If you saw me after it happened or saw me now, you would never know,” said Jones. “The one real concern I dealt with was when it initially happened, word got out and there were Facebook posts that I was blind. I think I addressed most of those rumors and for those who still believe that is the case, I’m not. Structurally, nothing is wrong with my eyeball, it’s the optic nerve. Barring something unusual, I’m good to go this year and for the years ahead.”
Glad to know few things can top “the Voice of the Indians.” Not even “the eye” of the Indians.
Happy to know all is well and you will be where you belong starting in August. Behind the microphone, calling the games for the Bridgeport fanbase.
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