James Rath

Born legally blind, the 20-year-old Rath says he was severely bullied as a child and had difficulty learning. He attempted suicide when he was 11 years old, and was diagnosed with depression at the same age. But when he got his first MacBook Pro on his 14th birthday, he found that the computer's accessibility features allowed him to see things he otherwise wouldn't have been able to see. He could read his schoolbooks and zoom in on software that allowed him to edit video. Rath's whole outlook on life changed after Hegot my first Mac, Rath told CNN he stopped doubting himself. Rath uploaded a short film about his story to YouTube titled "How Apple saved my life," it was immediately noticed by Apple's engineers. Apple's public relations team reached out to Rath to thank him for the video. They also said that the video had made the rounds at Apple's accessibility team, and they asked Rath if he had any thoughts about how to improve Macs and iPhones for people with visual impairments. Rath was flattered, but he had no idea that his story was about to go viral. Three hours after Apple PR called, Tim Cook tweeted out Rath's video.