FACT CHECK: Did a Texas man have "eye enlargement surgery" in order to see more of his family?
Claim: Father David Eckstrom underwent "eye enlargement surgery" in order to see more of his family.
FALSE
Origins: Father's Day 2015 saw the online circulation of a story reporting that David Eckstrom, a husband and father from Fort Worth, Texas, had undergone "eye enlargement surgery" so that he could see more of his family:
Meet David Eckstrom, a husband and father from Fort Worth, TX, living with his wife and two children. David was a normal family man until last month, when he went from regular dad to Super Dad: David loved his family so much that he got eye enlargement surgery so that he could look at them more.
Eckstrom’s surgeon, Dr. Eric Barnhart, said that he was moved by his patient’s desire to see his family more, and gladly performed the procedure.
“Most dads are content to just look at their family the normal amount, but David is a special kind of father,” said Dr. Barnhart. “He loves his family so much that he was willing to undergo extremely invasive surgery to make his eyes wider and his pupils bigger, just so he could see his wife and children more. As a father myself, I aspire to be like him.”
Although the above-referenced story got a viral boost on Father's Day 2015, it had been online since October 2014, when it was first published by the satirical web site ClickHole.
ClickHole, an offshoot of the humor publication The Onion, is a well-known purveyor of satirical news items. The site's recent offerings include spoofs about Gwyneth Paltrow's starving on food stamps, George Clooney's open tab at Chipotle, and spider-eggs hatching inside of Beanie Babies.
Last updated: 21 June 2015
First published: 21 June 2015