After a cosmetic procedure on her eyelids, this woman is unable to close her eyes and says she’s now forced to look like a freak. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Marilyn Leisz can't close her eyes.
Whether she's asleep or awake, her eyes stay wide open. Even when she tries to force them shut, they still remain slightly open.
"It's like a nightmare I can't wake up from," Leisz said.
So what caused her bizarre condition?
Leisz went to a cosmetic surgeon's office near her home in New Jersey for a procedure on her eyelids, but she says things went horribly wrong. She claims the doctor cut off too much of her eyelids and now her eyes stay open all the time.
"I know this must have been a difficult last couple of days. How are you doing?" INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander asked.
"I'll always look like a freak," Leisz said.
Her eyes are so wide open, she looks constantly startled. Her strange condition has made her the butt of late night jokes:
"A woman in New Jersey is suing her plastic surgeon after a botched procedure. He left her unable to close her eyes. The worst part, she has to spend all day now looking at New Jersey." joked Jay Leno.
But Dr. Sharon Giese says it's no laughing matter.
"If you can't close your eyes they will get red, dry, they will get itchy. Eventually it's going to affect your vision," said Dr. Giese
Leisz sued the plastic surgeon who performed the procedure, Dr. Paul Parker, for negligence.
The jury found Dr. Parker liable on two counts of negligence, and awarded Leisz $115,000.
The surgeon's lawyer, Hugh Francis, says his client feels vindicated that the jury awarded Leisz so little in damages.
"To say she had no knowledge of the risk is really not plausible, and that is what the jury found," Francis told INSIDE EDITION.
When Leisz left the courtroom she wore dark glasses to protect her eyes from the sun.
"There's no amount of money you can put on your eyesight, but I think that $115,000 is extremely low. I'm very disappointed with that," said Leisz.
