JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A local eye doctor gave the gift of sight Wednesday morning to nine lucky people.

Dr. Jeffrey Levenson performed free cataract surgery for the uninsured patients through his annual program Gift of Sight.

The program was established over 25 years ago by Levenson. It has helped restore vision for more than 350 patients who have no access to insurance and are legally blind due to cataracts. Each procedure takes about 15 minutes and is performed under topical anesthesia.​

Glaucoma is a collection of related conditions characterized by damage to the nerve that connects the eye to the brain (the optic nerve).

It is caused by high pressure within the eye. It’s the second leading cause of blindness in the United States, and the leading cause among African-Americans.

Although it can be found in newborns and in children, most glaucoma occurs among older Americans. Overall, about 2 percent of all people over the age of 40 suffer from it and that rises to about 10 percent in those over the age of 80.

In 2009, after 25 years of restoring sight to thousands of patients, Jeffrey Levenson found himself on the other side of the ophthalmologist’s chair.​

At age 51, he was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes, which is a clouding of the lens that affects vision. The eye surgeon needed eye surgery himself.

“I was going to experience something I’ve done 15 [thousand] to 20,000 times. It was a real revelation for me. … It was so interesting to see from the patient’s side.”

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