For the first time, seven-year-old Carter Bresee slept with his eyes closed.
The Nevada boy with a rare skin condition had life-changing eyelid and skin graft surgery last month in San Diego, the Fox5 news outlet reported on Tuesday.
Carter's story that Fox5 first aired in May touched people so much that many ended up donating to help him with his medical bills.
"He slept until noon today. He got the best night sleep," Shai Bresee, Carter's mother, said in a video interview after the boy’s first night of being able to sleep with his eyes closed.
Carter was born with lamellar ichthyosis, which leads to the eyelids turning outward, according to his mother on the family's GoFundMe page that was created in May. The effort raised more than US$46,000 as of Wednesday for the boy's medical expenses. The rare condition prevents him from closing his eyes.
"He cannot blink, he sleeps with his eyes open and is often experiencing lots of pain and discomfort because of this," she wrote.
Carter says the doctor took skin and placed it on his eyelid. "I couldn't see on the first day but on the second day I could."
For the full interview, watch the video above.
With files from Fox5's Victoria Saha via CNN Newsource
eschmi on October 16th, 2024 at 21:30 UTC »
The not blinking thing would suck.... but in a similar spot my whole life because one eye has congenital ptosis (no muscle to control it) so when i was 4 they tacked BOTH up. So eyelids from bottom can kinda half come up, but top doesn't come down. So permanent eye open sleeps for me.
bsurfn2day on October 16th, 2024 at 21:29 UTC »
When I was a kid there was a family that we would go to the mountains with and stay in a cabin is the woods. They had a son that was my age who slept with his eyes open and he would also walk and talk in his sleep. It was creepy as fuck. It made my young imagination run wild and I was convinced the place was haunted by demons or something.
GreatsquareofPegasus on October 16th, 2024 at 20:58 UTC »
Damn. And I'm here complaining about the cashier forgetting I didn't want tomatoes on my burger.