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Wed, Sep 10
Duke fits first patient in state history with ‘bionic eye’
Half of his 66-year life ago, Larry Hester’s eyesight began closing in.
His peripheral vision narrowed, night vision faded, and the sharpness of what he could see blurred until he had to quit driving and reading.
He had a degenerative disease called retinosa pigmentosa, or RP, which destroys the delicate cells in the retina that collect light for the brain to translate into vision. His doctor said then that there was nothing that could be done, that he would lose his sight entirely.
“That was tough,” said Hester, a retired tire dealer who lives in North Raleigh. “But that’s the way it happened, and there’s still no cure for it.”
But now, finally, there is something better than darkness.
Read more from Jay Price at The News & Observer.