For as long as she can remember, Briana Coria was desperate to have perfect vision.
Growing up nearsighted enough to need glasses with chunky lenses – her prescription was around -9.5 in both eyes – Briana was regularly bullied for the way they made her look.
‘I just wanted to be normal as a child,’ she explained. ‘But I had these big, coke bottle glasses that kids would make fun of me for.’
So, as a special treat to herself at 25, the Illinois-based police officer decided to sign up for laser eye surgery after being accepted into an elite regiment that she had worked hard for.
Life was good. She and her husband, Ricardo, had just purchased their first home, they were thinking about children and her career felt on track.
But within months, everything unravelled.
After the procedure, Briana woke to find her vision irreversibly damaged. She was unable to perform the duties needed for the exciting job she’d just landed and has been signed off work sick for three years since.
Without her income, the couple were forced to sell their home and move in with her parents.
Briana Coria decided to undergo laser eye surgery as a treat to herself, to celebrate a promotion at work
After the procedure, Briana woke to find her vision irreversibly damaged. She never worked a single day in the job she’d just landed and has been signed off work sick for five years since
Devastated by her vision loss and the collapse of her plans, Briana fell into a deep depression.
‘I felt like such a burden – to my parents and husband,’ she said. ‘I thought everything would be better for everyone if I just wasn’t here anymore.’
Today, Briana is in a much better place – both physically and mentally.
She and Ricardo have moved back into their own home, she’s begun to work again as a pet minder, and the dark cloud that once felt so suffocating feels like it’s lifted, if only a little.
She has also become a social media campaigner, raising awareness about the risks of laser eye surgery.
‘When I signed up for it, I genuinely believed it was a routine, low-risk procedure,’ she said. ‘Now, I would give anything to just have my glasses back.’
More than 100,000 Britons undergo laser eye surgery each year – a £4,000 procedure that reshapes the front of the eye to eliminate the need for glasses or contact lenses.
While most patients experience minimal side-effects, some suffer life-changing complications.
Clinics often advertise the procedure as 95 to 99 per cent safe.
According to The American Refractive Surgery Council’s website, ‘Lasik is safe and is one of the most studied elective surgical procedures available today… the rate of sight-threatening complications from Lasik eye surgery is estimated to be well below 1 per cent.’
However, emerging research suggests the risks may be higher than previously thought, with some studies indicating that as many as a third of patients experience long-term side-effects.
Support groups in the UK and US now have around 16,000 members reporting issues ranging from double vision to chronic pain and extreme light sensitivity. Campaigners say many have experienced severe mental distress, with some contemplating suicide.
In January 2025, 26-year-old police officer Ryan Kingerski took his own life after months of severe pain and visual disturbances following Lasik surgery. He was a friend of Briana’s.
Similarly, Detroit meteorologist Jessica Starr died by suicide in 2018 after struggling with complications from the procedure.
For Briana, side-effects from the surgery became clear very early on.
Although told she would be able to return to work just two days later, Briana woke up still experiencing blurry and double vision.
‘I followed the recovery instructions to the letter, because I was so afraid of anything going wrong,’ she said.
‘But as the days went on, I realised that my eyesight wasn’t getting any better.’
The worst problems came at night. As soon as the sun went down, Briana’s vision was ablaze with light halos, and floaters – dark squiggles and dots that covered her field of sight.
When she tried to read text on a screen, she saw a copy reflected below, making it almost impossible to use phone or computer screens.
And she was left totally unable to drive at night, fearing for her own – and others’ safety – due to her visual impairment.
She and husband Ricardo had to sell their home and move in with Briana’s parents
Ryan Kingerski (pictured left) took his own life after months of excruciating pain, double vision and persistent headaches. Detroit TV meteorologist Jessica Starr (pictured right) hanged herself at just 35 years old, blaming her tragic decision on the elective surgery
In Lasik and similar surgeries, a small flap is cut into the cornea, which is then raised slightly. This reshaping changes the way that light is refracted to make up for nearsightedness or farsightedness that occurs when light doesn’t hit the proper spot on the retina
‘I was going into the Lasik clinic that had done the procedure every 30 days for a check-up, as was mandated by my workplace so I could be signed off on medical leave,’ she said.
‘And each time, they told me that it would get better with time and not to worry. After six months, I realised that was never going to happen.’
An independent ophthalmologist later confirmed her vision was unlikely to recover.
Doctors suggested the issue may have stemmed from a miscalculation of her pupil size before surgery, meaning the laser did not fully cover the necessary area of the cornea.
Briana says she still is haunted by the memories of the traumatic procedure.
‘I remember hearing the click click click noise of the laser as it slices into the eye,’ she said. ‘Now, when I hear a similar clicking every time I turn my stove on, it makes me shiver.
‘I still can smell my eye burning as it cuts through. It’s disgusting.’
Laser eye surgery was approved in the 1990s to treat vision problems including long-sightedness, shortsightedness and astigmatism.
Also known as Lasik, which stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, it involves cutting a flap in the eye with a laser and reshaping the cornea – the eye’s clear, protective layer – with another laser.
First approved in the 1990s, the surgery takes under ten minutes, so patients can return home the same day. Many organisations, such as the American Refractive Surgery Council (a group of laser eye clinicians), claim fewer than one per cent of patients experience side-effects.
However, more recent data suggests laser eye surgery may be riskier than previously thought.
Four years ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released worrying new guidance on the procedure.
Outlining a litany of potential problems from the surgery – including a risk of permanent double vision, persistent eye pain and even suicide – the FDA told doctors that prospective patients must be warned of the dangers.
The FDA has received over 700 complaints of severe pain after laser eye surgery, including symptoms described by women as ‘worse than childbirth’.
In one clinical trial from 2017, FDA researchers found that nearly half of participants reported ‘new visual symptoms’ including glare, halos and starbursts after their surgeries.
The FDA also warned in its guidance that nearly one in five of patients still needed eye drops daily to combat dry eye symptoms more than five years after their surgeries.
Dr Cynthia MacKay, clinical professor of ophthalmology at Columbia University, claims that, often, the millions of cornea nerves cut during Lasik surgery never grow back properly.
‘The nerves are gone right after the surgery – meaning patients usually don’t feel any pain – but they begin to grow back in the weeks following,’ she told The Mail on Sunday last year.
‘But this regrowth can happen in a chaotic, disorganised fashion. And that’s when the pain starts.’
In some cases, Lasik can trigger a complication called corneal ectasia, which occurs when the damaged cornea bulges outwards.
Left untreated, it can lead to severe vision problems, including blindness. Under close examination, clinicians report that many patients with corneal ectasia have visible stretch marks on their eyeballs and white dots where the cornea has detached.
Experts also warn part of the problem is many patients are offered Lasik surgery when they would be better suited to a different procedure. Another version, called Lasek (laser epithelial keratomileusis), does not involve cutting the cornea.
Instead, an alcohol solution is applied to the eyeballs. This loosens the thin layer of cells on the eye’s surface, called the epithelium, which is then removed by hand. Once this layer is out of the way, the laser can be used to reshape the cornea.
A special contact lens is inserted following the procedure to protect the eye while the epithelium heals – which usually takes a week. Lasek tends to be more painful than Lasik, and the eyeball takes longer to heal.
However, experts claim it leads to fewer complications, which is why it is recommended for people with an especially thin cornea or other existing eye conditions.
In Britain, campaigner Sasha Rodoy says regulators need to do more to ensure patients are properly informed of the complications before undergoing laser eye surgery.
Since suffering horrific side-effects from laser surgery in 2011, Ms Rodoy has lobbied for government regulation through her foundation My Beautiful Eyes.
Today, Briana works as a pet minder, a job she is able to do despite her visual impairment
In 2013, she advised MPs on a bill that was put forward in Parliament, which sought to regulate the laser eye surgery industry.
It called for a legal requirement that companies provide a full and comprehensive list of risks to patients, which they should be given a week to consider before making their decision.
It also aimed to mandate that the laser eye surgery industry regularly publishes safety data that would reveal how often the procedure was a success or led to severe side-effects.
Since most laser eye surgery procedures take place in private clinics, much of this crucial information is unavailable to the public.
Although the bill did not receive a second hearing, Ms Rodoy – who suffers from extremely dry eyes and severe light sensitivity – hopes to see an updated version put forward in Parliament again.
‘I was in no way informed of the risks before my surgery,’ she said. ‘If I had been warned at any point that I would lose my near vision I never would have gone through with it.
‘I speak with new patients every week who say they weren’t properly informed of the risks and are now left with devastating consequences. Hundreds of people who have contacted me over the years say they’ve contemplated or even attempted suicide as a result.
‘We need guidelines that ensure surgeons are discussing with and explaining to patients side-effects they could experience.’
For Briana, the consequences are permanent.
‘People are told it’s perfectly safe,’ she said. ‘But your eye is irreversibly changed.
‘I just don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.’
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see samaritans.org for details