The utter ugliness of things

In a paper on Recovery from Early Blindness, we learn the story of Sidney Bradford. Bradford went blind at the age of ten months. His sight was restored by a corneal transplant at age 52.

Bradford found the visual world unbearably ugly. He was plunged into deep depression by the dullness and flaws he discovered in the visual world. "(H)e said that he noted more and more the blemishes in things, and would examine small irregularities and marks in paint work or wood." He was an intelligent person who while blind showed considerable mechanical gifts; all of that became hard for him after he was able to see. "We may feel disappointment at a private dream come true: S.B. found disappointment with what he took to be reality."

Two years after his surgery, Bradford committed suicide.