Steven Holcomb found dead at the age of 37

Olympic bobsled gold medalist, Steven Holcomb, was found dead at the age of 37 in his room at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, on Saturday, May 6, 2017.

Holcomb had previously attempted suicide in 2007 due to vision problems following LASIK eye surgery. Holcomb is believed to have suffered from post-LASIK corneal ectasia.

Holcomb talked about his failed suicide attempt in his 2012 book, But Now I See: My Journey from Blindness to Olympic Gold.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

I had worn contacts and glasses for years and thought nothing of it... A local eye surgeon came to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid and offered free Lasik procedures... After a quick screening it was determined that I would be a great candidate, and so I took advantage of it... That had been a year ago, and not only was I not seeing better, but my vision kept getting worse.

LASIK surgeons routinely diagnose post-LASIK corneal ectasia as "keratoconus". Keratoconus is a naturally occuring disorder of the cornea which usually affects both eyes and typically begins during puberty or late teen years. It appears that Holcomb was told that his condition was keratoconus.

A July 2016 press release by Avedro, a company that sells a drug-device treatment for post-Lasik corneal ectasia and keratoconus, states, "The incidence of corneal ectasia following refractive surgery [Lasik] is estimated to affect approximately 160,000 patients in the United States, qualifying it as an orphan disease." Link to press release

Holcomb had undergone at least two eye surgeries after his failed suicide attempt-- corneal collagen crosslinking (Holcomb C3-R) followed by implantable collamer lens (ICL) implantation. (Source: Maxine Lipner. Steve Holcomb’s Olympian effort: back on track after keratoconus. EyeWorld April 2010. Link to article)

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