Woman gets treatment for stroke after eye doctor makes life-saving discovery

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A local woman is crediting an “in-sightful” doctor with potentially saving her life and her sight.

She shares her story, and some advice.

Carolyn Benford came in to see the eye doctor just a few months ago, when suddenly she noticed that something was… off.

“I was doing my job and I said, ‘Oh, oh, something's not right,’” said Benford.

It appeared when she looked outside.

“I could visualize everything as long as I’m looking forward, but coming from the left, it was like a cloud, like a gray cloud,” said Benford.

Dr. Michael Prokopius performed a number of tests on Carolyn, including one called a visual field test.

Most people can see each of his fingers as he moves them in their visual field, but Carolyn had some difficulty.

“Miss Benford was not able to see to the left-hand side in each of her eyes,” said Dr. Michael Prokopius

Further, more precise, testing confirmed his suspicions.

“Our big suspicion was that of a stroke,” said Dr. Michael Prokopius.

So, Dr. Michael Prokopius sent Carolyn right to the emergency room.

“And she then went there and was admitted to the hospital,” said Dr. Michael Prokopius.

Carolyn is slowly getting some of her vision back, but she now wants others to know vision changes can be an early warning sign.

“I am so grateful because I can still see, I can see the clouds in the morning, I can see the sun,” said Benford.

Early intervention she says might not just save your sight, it could save your life.

If you catch stroke symptoms early, there are newer medications which can be given right away to reduce long-term complications.