What Does Surgery Today Mean For Local Meteorologist After Losing Eye In Fireworks Accident?

DETROIT (WWJ) Sources say Channel 7 weatherman Dave Rexroth will undergo surgery today in Iowa City after he lost sight in one eye in a fireworks accident.

"Everybody thinks that your vision is cut in half, but you've only lost probably 10, 15 20 percent percent at best," said Warren ocularist Terry Bulgarelli, who specializes in artificial eyes.

The surgery today will be to insert an implant

"They'll remove his eye and then they'll attach the four quadrant muscles ... of the eye to the implant and then basically seal the implant behind his tissue," Bulgarelli said.

He said an implant will probably be placed in two months.

"If there's nothing in the socket, the socket starts to contract a little bit so you have to have something in there to keep the lids apart, and the tissues heal better," he explained.

So how will that impact the life of the popular meteorologists and father of three?

"It takes about maybe a week to get comfortable with it, and then at that point if it's made right you basically don't think about it," Bulgarelli said. "Like your shoes, you basically don't think about wearing them until you look down."

Bulgarelli said if the implant is made right, no one will know the eye isn't real.