A 26-year-old police officer died by suicide after suffering severe side effects from a common procedure.
Ryan Kingerski, a Penn Hills Police Department officer and lifelong lover of law enforcement, underwent the popular laser eye procedure LASIK in August, taking time off work to have what his family thought was a routine surgery to improve his vision.
But just months later, the young officer was dead after suffering with side-effects allegedly from the procedure.
“He left us a note that said, ‘I can’t take this anymore. LASIK took everything from me.’ That’s the note that we got left,” Ryan’s father, Tim Kingerski, told CBS News.
“That’s what we were left with,” added his heartbroken mother, Stefanie.
Following the surgery, Ryan began suffering from debilitating complications: constant headaches, double vision, dark spots, and floaters — those shadowy shapes that drift across your field of vision like tiny cobwebs.
His parents said he was “full of regret,” and that despite trying to find specialists who could help, nothing worked.
“He didn’t want anyone else to ever feel the same way, and he wanted people to know the facts,” Stefanie said.
Ryan died by suicide in January, just five months after the operation.
The family described him as “witty, charming, smart,” and someone who always wanted to be a police officer, following in the footsteps of his father — and alongside his twin brother, Jacob, who also became a cop.
When Ryan first told his parents he wanted LASIK, their minds were on the risks of police work — not a vision correction procedure.
“We had no thought of that,” Stefanie said. Tim added, they believed LASIK was a “simple and effective, routine surgery” that would have him “back to work in a couple of days.”
But Ryan never returned to his post.
“It just … it ruined his life. Ruined it. Completely ruined his life in 12 seconds,” Tim told WTAE News.
The Kingerski family has since chosen to speak publicly about their son’s death, hoping to warn others who might be considering the surgery. They encourage anyone suffering from complications to join support groups and seek help through suicide prevention services.
LASIK, which stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis,” has been FDA-approved since 1999 to correct common vision issues such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.
Around 700,000 to 800,000 people undergo the procedure annually in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.
The American Refractive Surgery Council reports the rate of serious, sight-threatening complications is less than 1%.
Still, not everyone in the medical field is convinced of its safety.
Morris Waxler, the former FDA official who helped approve LASIK in the '90s, has since become one of its most vocal critics.
He told WTAE News that while the surgery was originally cleared after 100 clinical trials, he later left the FDA and has since petitioned for LASIK’s approval to be revoked — though he’s been denied.
“They cut nerves, then, in addition, they take out a divot, which removes all the support structure or muscle out of the support section and all of it,” Waxler explained.
“Sometimes it grows back, sometimes it doesn’t grow back, sometimes it grows back poorly. For some people, it’s a bigger problem than others.”
Waxler said Ryan’s tragic story should not be overlooked.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.