BYMURRAYCARPENTER IN ANEGADA,BRITISHVIRGINISLANDS

BYMELANIED.G.KAPLAN

In April, Idusted offmybikeand
wipedcobwebsfromthehandlebars.AsI
strapped on my helmetand cruised
downtheblock,Irejoiced.Itwasthefirst
anniversaryofmybrain injury, and I
finally felt recovered and confident
enoughtopedalinthecityagain.
AlthoughIride frequently,Ididn’t
hurtmyselfbiking—ormotorcyclingor
rock-climbing,other riskyoutdoor pur-
suitsI’veenjoyed.My injuryresulted
from amundaneaccidentin my home
thatcouldhappentoanyone.
Earlyonemorning,asIsortedlaundry
on the floor in front of my stacked
washeranddryer,thedryerdoorsilently
swungopentoa90-degreeangle.Istood
upquicklyandwhackedmyheadsquare
intothemetaldoor.
Ouch.Immediately,Ifeltlightheaded,
and alargebump swelledon top of my
head. But Ididn’t bleed or pass out. I
even consideredgoing on the bikeride
I’dplannedthatmorning before think-
ing better of it. Ilargely carriedon with
my day, feeling abit fuzzy-headed.It
wasn’tuntilthenextday, whenIstillfelt
out-of-sorts and my neighbor said I
looked pale, thatIwalked to an urgent
careclinic.ThedoctorconfirmedwhatI
hadsuspected:Ihadaconcussion.
Before lastspring, IthoughtIhad a
reasonable understanding of concus-
sion, which is amild traumatic brain
injury(TBI).Sports, falls and car acci-
dentsarefrequentcauses,andresearch-
ers are lookingmore closely at intimate
partner violenceas well. But I’dnever
SEE CONCUSSION ON E4

PERSPECTIVE

How my dryer

door gave me

aconcussion BYCOLLEENDEGUZMAN

Jessica Oberoi, 13,cannot remember

whenhereyesightstartedgettingblurry.

Allsheknowsisthatshehadtosquintto

seethewhiteboardatschool.

It wasn’tuntillastfall when her

eighth-gradeclassinBloomington,Ind.,

gotvision screeningsthatJessica’s ex-

treme nearsightednessand amblyopia,

orlazyeye,werediscovered.

She has been going through intense

treatment sincethen, andher optome-

trist, KatieConnolly,said Jessicahas

made great improvements —but her

lazyeye,which causes depth perception

problems,maynevergoaway.

Thechances of it being completely

correctedwouldhavebeenmuchhigher

ifherconditionhadbeencaughtearlier,

said Connolly,chief of pediatricand

binocularvision serviceatIndianaUni-

versity’sSchoolofOptometry.

Jessica is one of thecountless stu-

dents falling through the cracks of the

nation’s fractured efforts to catch and

treatvisionproblemsamongchildren.

TheCenters for DiseaseControl and

Prevention estimates thatmore than

600,000children andteensare blindor

have avision disorder.Arecent opinion

article published on JAMA Network

notes thatalargenumber of these

children couldbehelped simply with

glasses, but because of high costsand

lackofinsurancecoverage,manyarenot

gettingthem.

Yetthe National SurveyofChildren’s

Health, fundedby the U.S. Health Re-

sources and Services Administration,

found thatin2016-2017 aquarter of

childrenwerenotregularlyscreenedfor

SEE VISION ON E4

Manykids aren’t

gettingneeded

visionscreenings

BYBRADYDENNIS

alligatorrivernationalwildlife

refuge,n.c.—As the firstlight of day

flickers across the Croatan Sound, Scott

Lanier surveys the gray,barren tree

trunksthatstandineverydirection,like

massivegravestones markingthe once-

vibrantlandscape.

“The forestisjustretreating,” says

Lanier,manager of this 160,000-acre

federal wildliferefugenear NorthCaro-

lina’sOuterBanks.

Lanier firstcame here to work for the

U.S. Fish and WildlifeService in the

mid-1980sand stayed several years be-

fore heading to postings around the

Southeast. When he returned in 2006, a

singular question reverberated in his

mindashedrovearound:

“Whathappenedtothetrees?”

Thestartling transformation he wit-

nessed then has only accelerated in re-

centyears.“Ithas changeddramatically,

andithaschangedveryquickly,” hesays.

Fewexamplesofclimatechangeareas

unmistakableandarrestingasthe“ghost

forests” proliferating along parts of the

EastCoast—and particularly through-

out the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsulaof

NorthCarolina.

PlaceswhereLanieroncestoodondry

ground are now in waist-deep water.

Forestspopulatedbytoweringpines,red

maple,sweetgumandbaldcypresshave

transitionedto shrub land. Stretches of

shrub habitathavegiven waytomarsh.

And whatoncewas marsh has suc-

cumbedtotheencroachingsea.

SEE FORESTS ON E5

CLIMATE&ENVIRONMENT

The swift march of climate change

in North Carolina’s ‘ghost forests’

Scientists,

activists

race to

studythe

rapidloss

oftrees and

marshland

near the

OuterBanks

JOEL SARTORE

Acriticallyendangered

Anegada rockiguana,

Cyclurapinguis ,atthe

Houston Zoo. The

specieslives on

Anegada,whichispart

of the British Virgin

Islands.

COPPERHEADS

Be careful as the snakes

aregood at hiding.

E2

LIVERS

Hepatocytes stayyoung

at less than 3years.

E3

ANOREXIA

1in3eating-disorder

patientsaremen.

E6

PANDEMIC

Remotelearninghas hurt

somegroupsof teens.

E3

M

ichaelYoungstandsonalowbluffnearasaltpond,gesturestowardasnarlof

head-highshrubs and says, “You can be certain there are some iguanasnear

here.ӦTheflat,arid,salt-blastedislandlookslikeatoughplacetoscratchouta

living.ButtotheAnegadarockiguana, Cyclurapinguis ,thisismorethanhome.

¶“Thisisparadiseforthem,”saysYoung,whoworksoniguanaconservationfortheNational

ParksTrustoftheVirginIslands.¶The10-mileislandhasfewerthan300residentsandis

bestknownforitsextensivecoralreef,sandybeachesandflockofflamingos.¶Formillions

ofyears,theiguanas—uptofive-feet-longand15pounds—werethelargestvertebrateson

this landscape.Though the adults are fierce, the iguanashave been broughtto their scaly

kneesbyimprobablepredators—feralcatsthatpreyonjuveniles. SEE IGUANA ON E6

KLMNO

HHHEEEaaalllttthhh&Science

EZ EE

Island iguanas

are threatened.

Blame cats.

Adult lizards are fierce,but juvenilesfall prey to hungry,nonnativefelines

TUESDAY, JUNE 7 , 2022. SECTIONE

HHEEaaaalllltthh&