NY POST NEWSPAPER
FEBRUARY 1996
VISIONARY PROCEDURE

VISIONARY PROCEDURE: Nelson Haerr (right) hopes laser surgery will cure his nearsightedness and enable him to become a fireman, Laser helping him envision dream job

By ROGER FIELD
Post Health Reporter

A would-be firefighter who thought he'd never land his dream job has a shot at becoming one of New York's Bravest thanks to a new laser cure for nearsightedness.

Nelson Haerr, 28, a waiter from Manhattan, said he passed all the tests to enter the training program at the city Fire Academy-except eyesight.

"I got 100 on the written test and 100 on the physical, and everything was a 'go'. Then I found out at the end of my medical exam that my vision disqualified me," Haerr told The Post.

"I want to be a fireman because it's a respectable profession, a good job in the city, and it saves people's lives, he said."

An FDNY source confirmed that Haerr passed the entrance tests, but declined further comment.

Haerr's vision was 20/70 in his right eye and 20/100 in his left, but the Fire Department requires 20/50 or better in each eye. Excellent long-distance vision is 20/20.

Then Haerr discovered that a solution to his vision problem was five blocks away.

A new laser center on East 14th Street recently started using an invisible-light ultraviolet excimer laser to reshape the cornea and eliminate nearsightedness.

There, at 20/20 Laser Services, Dr. Mark Speaker resculpts patients' corneas in less than 15 minutes. The bombardment with the ultraviolet laser beam takes less than 30 seconds.