These are exciting weeks for Steven Holcomb, pilot of the USA 4-mens bob. Will he grab the Olympic gold? With already the World Cup in the pocket, "Team Nighttrain" is the huge favorit for winning the Olympic gold medal. But only two years ago, Steven was almost blind ...

Two years ago, Holcomb thought he'd have to retire due to keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease that causes the cornea to bulge. After seeing a dozen doctors, Holcomb's sight — and career — were saved by Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, a Beverly Hills, Calif., ophthalmologist who performed a non-invasive, painless procedure. Within a year, Holcomb won his first four-man world championship.

Steven Holcomb

Yes, he was on the list for a cornea transplant. But that would have meant a recovery time of at least a year, not to mention the possibility of complications. At risk of losing its top driver, the U.S. Bobsled team discovered Boxer Wachler's version of the treatment, called C3-R. They sent Holcomb to California and, with the help of the USOC, paid the $15,000 medical bill.

Boxer Wachler applied riboflavin eye drops to Holcomb's corneas and, with an ultraviolet light, activated the vitamin, which strengthens the collagen in the cornea and stops the degeneration; that's the C3-R part. The doctor then implanted a sort of contact lens behind the iris of each eye to correct eyesight, a procedure called Visian ICL.

Boxer Wachler said the treatment is 99 percent effective with just one procedure. One out of 100 patients require a second treatment. Boxer Wachler claims that there have been no infections, no corneal damages — nothing but success, and the spread of the good word. "It's really brought a great deal of awareness with keratoconus (patients) worldwide, who would otherwise have to go under an invasive corneal transplant," Boxer Wachler said. Holcomb's vision was 20-1000. Now, it's 20-20. It took about 40 minutes. It changed his life.

Now Steven is also willing to help change the life of others with visual impairment. "As you probably can imagine I take a lot of pride in what I have gone through and I would really like to help others."

What do you see with keratoconus?

 
(normal) 

(glare)

 What does eye surgery look like?