blindness

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Judi Dench: It's 'Impossible' to Act Due to Vision Loss
Judi Dench Admits She
'Can't See on a Film Set'
UPDATED
Jul 31, 2023 10:35 AM CDT

Judi Dench Admits She 'Can't See on a Film Set'

Actor's macular degeneration worsens, though she's staying upbeat, complete with a new tattoo

(Newser) - Earlier this year, Judi Dench revealed how difficult it had become to learn her lines, as her deteriorating eyesight had made it too hard to read scripts. Now, the 88-year-old Oscar-winning actor tells the Mirror she "can't see on a film set anymore," though it doesn't...

Reporter vs. Mugger: 'Wrong Blind Person, Wrong Day'

BBC correspondent Sean Dilley didn't let his lack of sight keep him from defeating a phone thief

(Newser) - A thief may have surprised BBC journalist Sean Dilley by lifting his phone on the streets of London, but it was Dilley who had an even bigger surprise for the thief. The BBC reports that its correspondent, who was working the night shift at New Broadcasting House, BBC's headquarters...

Parents Are Showing 3 Kids the World While They Can See It

Genetic disorder will cause vision loss to accelerate in teenage years

(Newser) - Montreal, Quebec, parents Edith Lemay and Sebastien Pelletier are taking a year to give their four children a trip of a lifetime—and for three of them, it will involve sights that they may never be able to see again. Mia, 12; Colin, 7; and Laurent, 5, were diagnosed years...

Blind Hero of the Oklahoma City Bombing Dies
Blind Hero of
the Oklahoma City
Bombing Dies
OBITUARY
Jan 26, 2022 7:54 AM CST

Blind Hero of the Oklahoma City Bombing Dies

Raymond Washburn, who led 5 to safety, died Jan. 16 at age 75

(Newser) - Raymond Washburn, a blind man who was credited with helping rescue five people from the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, has died, per the AP . He was 75. Washburn died on Jan. 16 at his home in Oklahoma City, and funeral...

Blind Conqueror of Everest Has Bigger Plans

China's Zhang Hong is going for the 'grand slam' of climbing

(Newser) - A Chinese climber who became the first blind Asian to scale Mount Everest says he aims to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents and then travel to the North and South Poles, per the AP . Zhang Hong, 44, is also the third blind climber internationally to reach the...

Blind Patients Undergo First-of-Its Kind Treatment

Gene editing through CRISPR technology aims to restore vision

(Newser) - The world won't know until later this year whether a novel treatment for blindness has restored patients' vision, but for now, "to even have the possibility—it's a gift," one participant tells NPR . Michael Kalberer is 43 and legally blind, and he agreed to let scientists...

Uber Must Pay Up After Drivers Deny Rides to Blind Woman

Arbitrator awards California's Lisa Irving $1.1M

(Newser) - California's Lisa Irving says that Uber drivers denied her rides or verbally abused her 14 times between 2016 and 2018, all because she's blind and has a guide dog, reports CNN . Now, however, Irving has scored a measure of revenge. An arbitrator ordered Uber to pay her $1....

8 Protesters Were Blinded in Single Day in May
8 Protesters Were Blinded
in Single Day in May
investigation
Jul 14, 2020 10:14 AM CDT

8 Protesters Were Blinded in Single Day in May

'Washington Post' has a video investigation

(Newser) - By the count of the Washington Post , a dozen people were partially blinded by police projectiles during the week of protests in the wake of George Floyd's death. And eight of those people lost vision in one eye in a single day—Saturday, May 30. In a video investigation...

Blind Voters Worry About Balloting Changes

In an election during a pandemic, many fear loss of privacy and independence

(Newser) - Not that long ago, Ann Byington had to squeeze into a voting booth with a Republican poll watcher on one side and a Democrat on the other reading her voting choices out loud so her ballot could be marked for her and the selections verified. Blind since birth, Byington welcomed...

He Waited 6 Years for Citizenship Test. Then, a Big 'Letdown'

Blind man Lucio Delgado fails because test wasn't available in Braille

(Newser) - When Lucio Delgado arrived in the US from Mexico six years ago, he set his sights on learning English and becoming an American citizen. Per the Washington Post , the then-teen had come to the US with his family to escape drug cartels and to give him better opportunities due to...

Big CRISPR First: Gene Editing Inside a Patient
For Gene Editing,
a 'New Frontier'
Mar 4, 2020 8:34 AM CST

For Gene Editing, a 'New Frontier'

If deemed safe, scientists hope for widespread use of CRISPR procedure inside patients' bodies

(Newser) - "We literally have the potential to take people who are essentially blind and make them see." Those are the attention-grabbing words of Charles Albright, the chief scientific officer at Editas Medicine, which is sponsoring a study to wield DNA technology in a novel way: edit genes using the...

Tennessee Nears Execution of Blind Convict, a Rarity

As inmates age on death row, an expert says, health problems increase

(Newser) - The execution of a blind man in Tennessee this week would mark only the second time in recent decades that a person without vision has been put to death in the US, the death row inmate's lawyers say. Lee Hall, 53, is scheduled to be electrocuted Thursday in a...

Years of Junk Food Caused Teen to Go Blind, Say Doctors

He subsisted on potato chips, fries, white bread, ham, and sausage

(Newser) - A case study in a medical journal illustrates the hazards of extremely picky eating. A young patient in the UK says in elementary school he began subsisting on a narrow range of food—potato chips (mostly Pringles), french fries, white bread, and sliced ham and sausage, reports CNN . The result...

Reality Star's Eye 'Got Split in Half' in Freak Accident

Theo Campbell got hit with a champagne cork

(Newser) - A reality star is providing an unfortunate lesson in public safety—beware of flying champagne corks. Theo Campbell, 28, writes on Instagram that he lost the vision in his right eye after being struck by one, reports Page Six . Campbell is a former contestant on the UK's Love Island ...

Blind Man Sues Playboy Over Its Website

In this case, it's all about the articles

(Newser) - A new lawsuit claims there's a big problem with Playboy's website: it's not accessible to the blind. The suit, though, isn't about racy photos. Donald Nixon, who is legally blind, filed the class-action suit on Wednesday, arguing Playboy.com and Playboyshop.com aren't compatible with...

Scientists Link Devices' Blue Light to Serious Eye Trouble

When blue light hits our retinas, toxic molecules flow, killing eye cells we can't get back

(Newser) - Staring at your smartphone, tablet, or computer screen for hours on end may not only be fueling your online addiction—it could be wreaking havoc on your eyesight. So says a new study out of the University of Toledo, published in the Scientific Reports journal, and it's all because...

He Couldn't Communicate With Flight Attendants. Enter 'Angel'

'Angel' teen Clara Daly helped blind, deaf man on Alaska Airlines

(Newser) - "We are all starving for good news and this was just what we needed." Those are the words of Alaska Airlines passenger Lynette Scribner on Facebook after she witnessed a touching interaction between a young teen and a blind and deaf man on a recent flight. All three...

'Horror Plant' Discovered in Another US State

Giant hogweed, which can cause severe burns and blindness, has spread to Virginia

(Newser) - What ScienceAlert calls a "giant horror plant" has made its way to yet another US state, and people who come in contact with it could feel the pain. Virginia Tech's Massey Herbarium tweeted last week it had IDed a giant hogweed (aka Heracleum mantegazzianum) plant in Clarke County,...

They Couldn't Even See a Book. Then Their Eyes Got a 'Patch'

2 elderly patients with age-related macular degeneration regain vision using stem cells

(Newser) - A new breakthrough on the stem cell front, and this time it affects the eyes. The Guardian reports that two patients with age-related macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness, got back enough of their vision so they could make out individual faces and once again read;...

Times Columnist Battles Fears He'll Go Blind
Times Columnist Battles
Fears He'll Go Blind
OPINION
Feb 25, 2018 5:04 PM CST

Times Columnist Battles Fears He'll Go Blind

Frank Bruni recently awoke to a blurrier, and more uncertain, world

(Newser) - New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has penned a first-hand account of how it feels to be confronted with the possibility of going blind. Bruni's weekend op-ed details his recent experience with what is known in layman's terms as a "stroke of the eye." Bruni...

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