Ranya G. Habash, MD, was interviewed by Florida's Boca Raton News for a Dec. 31 story about her removal of a cataract from a 9-year-old's eye.
He said he had forgotten what it was like to see out of both eyes, Dr. Habash noted. The day after they took off the patch, he started to read again.
Sun Sentinel Newspaper, Jan 26th 2007
50TH YEAR/ISSUE 260 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2006 3 SECTIONS/54 PAGES
By Dale M. King
Anthony Davis got a wonderful early Christmas present this season. Just five days before the traditional yuletide, a doctor from West Boca Medical Center removed a cataract from the 9-year-old's already injured eye. The operation was a success and within a day, the boy's vision was starting to return to normal. We had a great outcome here, said West Boca Medical Center CEO Walt Mickens, commenting on the work of ophthalmologist Dr. Ranya Habash. We were very pleased to offer our facility, he said. Dr. Habash told the Boca Raton News that she contacted Anthony's parents the night before the interview and said he is back to his normal self, running around and talking like a dervish about his experience. The day after they took off the patch, he started to read again, said Dr. Habash, a staff doctor at West Boca who shares an ophthalmology practice in West Boca with her husband. He said he had forgotten what it was like to see out of both eyes, she said. Both the hospital and Dr. Habash donated their services to the family. The doctor said the 9-year-old who lives in Tampa seriously injured his eye last May. He was playing with friends when he ran into a tree branch. The branch pierced his eye, she said.
An emergency room doctor in Tampa tried to find someone who would do the surgery, said Dr. Habash. He contacted her and explained the situation, saying that without surgery, the boy could lose the eye. She took the task even though she had to return from visiting family in Miami to treat the boy at West Boca, Mickens noted. Dr. Habash saved the eye, but a secondary cataract developed. At first, she tried to find another eye surgeon, saying, I don't usually do it. But then she took the case. She did the surgery on Anthony Dec. 20. The next day, the patch came off and his vision came back. Dr. Habash is new to West Boca, having arrived here a year and a half ago from Texas. She was recently named president of all ophthalmologists in Palm Beach County. Mickens said Dr. Habash is a wonderful addition to the staff. He said she and her husband have a very nice, young practice.