Real Life

Woman who was blind for 20 years regains sight after falling over

A mother who was left blind following a devastating accident two decades ago has miraculously regained her sight.
Mary Ann Franco regains her sight

Mary Ann Franco regains her sight

Mary Ann Franco was left unable to see after a car accident in 1993 that damaged her spine. But after falling over in her home in Florida and hitting her head, her sight has miraculously reappeared.

Speaking to the UK’s Independent, Mary said: “I was fully blind – all I could see was blackness.”

“I was in my living room, going over to the door. My foot caught a tile, and it flipped me. I hit my head in the back, and hit it on something else, maybe the fireplace.”

After the fall, Mary had to wear a neck brace for several months until she could have an operation to repair the damage to her neck.

When she came round from the anaesthetic, she realised her sight had returned.

And after 20 years living as a blind person, Mary could not be happier to have the use of her eyes back.

“In the mornings, I get up, and I look out here and the sun is coming through the trees, and the beams [are] coming down.

“Oh, God, it’s so wonderful to see.”

Doctors now believe that Mary’s car accident may have blocked an artery in her spine, stopping her from seeing. But Neurosugeon John Afshar told ABC

News that the restoration of Mary’s vision “is a true miracle…I really don’t have a scientific explanation for it.”

Suggestions have been made that the artery could have been kinked and the latest surgery may have unkinked it.

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