More Than Meets the Eye
About this episode
Dan Roche shares his transformative experience with a prosthetic eye and the impact of ocularists on patients' lives.
Dan Roche has an implausibly realistic prosthetic eye. He was born with a cataract on his right eye, rendering him partially blind and very self-conscious. In this episode of Constant Wonder, he tells host Marcus Smith about how ocularist Michael Strauss made him a prosthetic that transformed his life. Now, Dan is fascinated by the industry of eye making, and the ocularists that dedicate their lives to the practice. Dan Roche grew up hating his sightless right eye. After medical complications and fruitless corrective surgeries, he had it removed and replaced with a prosthetic. No longer fragile glass spheres, prosthetic eyes are intricate, bespoke medical devices. (Check out Dan's photo and see if you can tell the difference!) Modern ocularists, like Michael Strauss, facilitate both emotional and physical healing with their work, giving Dan (and other patients) confidence and a new lease on life. Guests: Dan Roche, professor of English at Le Moyne College, and author of "Eyes by Hand: Prosthetics of Art and Healing" https://www.eyesbyhand.com/ Michael Strauss, ocularist https://strausseye.com/ (0:00) Meet Dan Roche (and His Eye) (15:21) History and Structure of Prosthetic Eyes…
People in this episode
Host: Marcus Smith
Guest: Dan Roche
Topics covered
- prosthetic eyes
- ocularists
- emotional healing
- medical devices
- confidence
Keywords
- prosthetic eye
- ocularist
- Dan Roche
- Michael Strauss
- emotional healing
- sightless eye
- medical devices
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Le Moyne College, Strauss Eye
Books & works: Eyes by Hand: Prosthetics of Art and Healing
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