TO CLOSE

On average, there are more than 128 suicides a day in the United States, tempted by people with and without known mental disorders.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI

In a national television interview, Jessica Starr's husband and mother recounted what they thought would have led to her suicide death in December.

They think the death of Fox Detroit meteorologist 2 was linked to his fight against the complications of laser eye surgery.

"We can not attribute it to anything else," Starr's husband, Dan Rose, told ABC's "Good Morning America" ​​show on Wednesday.

Starr committed suicide in December 2018 about two months after a procedure to correct her vision. She was 35 years old.

In ABC News correspondent Paula Faris' report, Rose explained how Starr immediately knew that "something was wrong" afterwards.

"She started complaining of incredibly dry eyes, she had almost no night vision, she had stars she saw day and night," Rose said.

The report also reveals that Starr contacted a therapist before his death. According to Faris, Starr's family, looking back, understood that she had become depressed.

Her mother, Carol Starr, told "GMA" that her daughter was struggling to eat and sleep and expressed doubts about the improvement of her condition. Her mother and her husband both agreed that she had become more withdrawn.

"Her family said that she was a completely different person after the operation," Faris said. "They will choose to remember her as being his wife, mother, friend and sister warm, affectionate and fun."

Before her death on December 12, the popular TV news actress had told the public on her Facebook page that she was still struggling with complications related to her October 2018 procedure.

[If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24 hours a day at 800-273-8255.]

Jessica Starr, meteorologist at Fox 2. (Photo: Fox 2 Detroit)

"I still need all the prayers and wishes of happiness because it's difficult," Starr said in one of the videos that recounted his experiences after the surgery.

Jessica Starr underwent a new Lasik-like surgery called SMILE, or extraction with an incisor lens. It was approved in 2016 by the Food and Drug Administration and was conducted last year for the first time in Michigan. according to an article in the Detroit Free Press on December 18th.

More: The suicide of Jessica Starr, meteorologist, focuses on Lasik's safety

More: The small town of Michigan faces the third suicide of teens in 8 months

More: Prosecution: A teenage girl tries to commit suicide to escape the stalker's ex-boyfriend

The SMILE procedure is "basically the same" as Lasik and both are very safe, said Dr. John Vukich, chair of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery's Refractive Surgery Clinical Committee.

In 2018, The New York Times reported the potential dangers of laser eye surgery in an article highlighting the suicide of a 27-year-old veteran linked to Lasik and the complications of a garden teacher. 39 children in Cleveland to whom a pain pump had been implanted. in his abdomen to deal with constant eye pain.

The "GMA" report cites information from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery that clinical data on SMILE show that vision-compromising complications are extremely rare and occur in less than 1% of cases. .

More than 1.5 million SMILE procedures were performed.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at 313-222-6427 or [email protected].

Read or share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2019/02/28/jessica-starr-family-suicide-eye-surgery/3013226002/