Texas Rep. Crenshaw temporarily blinded after eye surgery

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2020 file photo, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, questions witnesses during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on 'worldwide threats to the homeland' on Capitol Hill Washington. Crenshaw says he has undergone surgery on his eye and says he will be virtually sightless for a month. Crenshaw said in a news release Saturday, April 10, 2021, that an ophthalmologist on Thursday discovered the retina to his left eye was detaching. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP, File) (Chip Somodevilla, 2020 Getty Images)

HOUSTON – Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, said Saturday that he has undergone eye surgery and will be virtually sightless for a month.

Crenshaw, 37, is a Navy veteran who lost his right eye and suffered damage to his left eye in 2012 when a homemade bomb exploded when he was deployed to Afghanistan.

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“The blast from 2012 caused a cataract, excessive tissue damage, and extensive damage to my retina," Crenshaw said in a statement. “It was always a possibility that the effects of the damage to my retina would resurface, and it appears that is exactly what has happened.”

Crenshaw said the retina to his left eye was found to be detaching after he went to an ophthalmologist on Thursday because of dark, blurry vision, and that he underwent surgery on Friday.

“The surgery went well, but I will be effectively blind for about a month,” according to Crenshaw.

Crenshaw was reelected in November representing Texas' 2nd Congressional District in the Houston area.