Natalya has shared that she was legally blind in her left eye due to astigmatism, a condition she successfully addressed with surgery this past summer. In an interview with Dariel Figueroa for Sports Illustrated, the WWE superstar opened up about her vision struggles and the impact they had on her life.
She explained that the surgery involved an EVO ICL implant, which corrected her vision and allowed her to regain clarity. This significant change has made a difference in her day-to-day activities and her performance in the ring. Below are some highlights from their conversation:
Natalya on keeping her condition private:
I don’t think even really anybody in WWE knew about it because I kept it pretty secretive. I was born with astigmatism… I was legally blind in my left eye.”
Natalya on not having a solution to fix it for several years:
They didn’t have the technology to fix it. (I) Didn’t qualify for LASIK because of how my eye was shaped. At that time, the procedure that they had for (a) lens implant, because of the shape of my eye, I didn’t qualify for it.”
Natalya on having issues with using a contact lens to mitigate the condition:
I was like screw it. I’m not going to wear the contact lens. I’m literally just going to take it out and just let my right eye do all the work.”
Natalya on finally getting the surgery to fix it over the summer:
I had a little time off this summer in between my contract re-signing. And I was like, if I had this time off, I’m going to ask WWE if I can get this fixed because I went and found an eye doctor. Newsom Eye in Tampa. They had the technology that they didn’t have before… They even strengthened my right eye. I had surgery in my right eye to get (it) even stronger so that my right eye (and) my left eye are totally in sync with each other.”
