She entered the operating room for her spine and came out seeing the world. Mary Ann Franco, 70, a resident of Okeechobee, Florida, had lost her sight in a car accident in 1995. For 21 years she saw nothing. In May 2016, a fall at home led her to routine spinal surgery and when she woke up from anesthesia, suddenly, she could see.
Most incredible of all is that Franco was also colorblind before the original accident. When she opened her eyes in the recovery room, she not only regained her vision, she also saw colors for the first time in her life. And among the first things she was able to see were the faces of her grandchildren.
Her neurosurgeon, Dr. John Afshar, does not have a definitive scientific explanation. The hypothesis is that the 1995 accident may have bent an artery in the spine, cutting off blood flow to the area of the brain that controls vision, and the surgery unintentionally straightened it. “A true miracle”, said the doctor himself. 😮
