After suffering from multiple painful side effects following eye surgery, a 26-year-old Pennsylvania police officer, Ryan Kingerski, took his own life in January 2025. His parents, Tim and Stefanie Kingerski, deeming the surgery unsuccessful, believe that mental health is not to blame.
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According to CBS News, Ryan Kingerski took time off his job as an officer with the Penn Hills Police Department to get LASIK eye surgery, a described elective eye surgery. Expecting his vision to improve, Ryan, however, was met with excruciating side effects.
As per his parents, these included headaches, seeing dark spots and floaters, and double vision.
“He kept saying how bad the pain in his head was,” they said. “He had a terrible headache and wasn’t able to focus, and the vision and the blurriness and everything else – and that just continued.”
Several times, Tim would drive Ryan to appointments in the hope of getting better. However, time and time again, nothing seemed to work. Ryan, desperately, expressed strong feelings to his parents, stating he was “disgusted” and “full of regret” following the surgery.
“Regret was the big thing. ‘Why would they do this to me? Why would they not tell me?” Stefanie said.
According to Tim, his son eventually took to social media to post his experience. They would later receive a letter saying that Ryan had been dropped as a patient.
Five months after the surgery and after suffering excruciating pain, Ryan Kingerskiu took his own life in January 2025.
“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 told CBS News.
Company Addressed The Incident
The outlet then shared a statement issued by LasikPlus.
“Legal requirements prevent us from speaking to the specifics of any patient,” LasikPlus wrote. “Suicide generally cannot be reduced to any single cause. To be clear, there is no clinical evidence linking suicide to LASIK eye surgery.”
LasikPlus added that each of their patients is provided with an informed consent form days before their surgeries. “The consent form addresses the recognized risks, benefits, and alternatives of the proposed procedure,” the company added.
Meanwhile, Ryan’s father insists this wasn’t a mental health issue, saying that Ryan was a completely different man after the surgery.
“It had nothing to do with mental health,” Tim said. “They are free to judge and say whatever they want to say. I know that my son, before his surgery and after his surgery, was two completely different people.”
While Ryan’s story has been shared online extensively, his parents are looking to honor him by sharing the possible risks that may arise following LASIK surgery.
Remembering his son, Tim Kingerski said that he was “just vibrant and full of life.”
“He loved to do stuff with family, friends,” Tim said. “He and I played golf on a regular basis. He and his brother spent tons of time together.”