Meghan flies down the ski hills every winter as a Special Olympic skier. In 2017 she made a decision that impacted the outcome of her performance in the Special Olympic World Winter Games in Austria.
As a skier, she knows first-hand how winter weather can affect her eyes, and her performance! Winter in Minnesota can be harsh. The air is dry, the wind is whipping, and the heat is on full blast in your car and home. These conditions are not only hard on your skin and hair but are hard on your eyes, especially if you enjoy winter sports like Meghan.
Meghan wears tinted, wraparound and well-fitting goggles while she skis to protect her eyes from the sun and wind, and until her life-changing decision she had to wear those goggles on top of her prescription glasses (as many do in the winter or while participating in sports).
Protecting your eyes from the sun and wind while combating dry eyes in the winter is important, but vision is a priority. When Meghan would wear her glasses under her goggles, they would fog up and block her vision. She couldn’t forgo the goggles because she needs to keep her eyes safe, but you can’t win a medal if you can’t see the finish line!
In 2017, shortly before she was to compete in the 2017 Special Olympic World Games, Meghan had LASIK. Once she was able to ditch her regular glasses, her vision through her goggles was much clearer, which led her to finishing with a silver medal in giant slalom skiing for team USA!
Watch Meghan talk about her LASIK procedure after taking home the silver!
Video Transcription
I was in Austria for World Winter Games for Special Olympics. I got second silver medal and a fourth-place ribbon. Giant slalom and slalom. I stood on the podium with my teammate from the United States and we both won first and second in giant slalom. To not have to wear glasses anymore and just to have vision rechecked. Team USA!
