Eye surgeon Brian Boxer Wachler was wrapping up a day of work last month when an unusual letter was delivered to his desk.
The letter was from 29-year-old Navy recruit Ivan Quinones who had a condition called Keratoconus, in which the cornea, the outer layer of the eye, weakens and starts to bulge out. The Navy discharged him because of the condition.
“I was devastated… I’m gonna get sent home, and I’m going to go blind,” Quinones said.
Quinones did research and found out that Boxer Wachler did an advanced procedure called Holcomb C3-R. He saved up money by working but still didn't have enough money to pay for the whole procedure.
So he took a leap of faith, buying a one way ticket from New York to LA and delivered his letter in person. His proposal was to do work in exchange to make up for the cost of the procedure.
“I was desperate I could see my vision getting worse and worse… I know they’re probably going to turn me down, but I was just hoping for some type of hope that they would help me,” Quinones said.
Boxer Wachler accepted.
“There was so much emotion in the letter, and I really felt it, and I just felt I needed to do something to help him,” he said.
So every day for the last three weeks, Quinones has been doing clerical work in the office.
This week he got the Holcomb C3R.
“It uses a combination special crosslinking solution which we apply to the eye and a special kind of light, and the interaction between the two actually causes the cornea to become strong, and for the first time in history we can stop Keratoconus right in its tracks,” Boxer Wachler said.
Then, he got the final procedure done -- a lens implanted in his eye to correct his vision.
The result was immediate.
“I expect Ivan to have improvement, and for his life to be wonderful, he’s got an incredible prognosis, I think he’s going to do great,” Boxer Wacher said.
Quinones plans on rejoining the Navy and going back into the service.
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