A Texas woman suffered blindness after a common contact lens mistake allowed parasites to burrow into her eye, causing severe infection.
A young woman from Texas is sharing her story after a serious mistake with her contact lenses left her blind in one eye.
Brooklyn McCasland, who is just 23 years old, learned the hard way about the dangers of wearing contact lenses while swimming.
Her experience serves as a warning for others who use contacts.
The woman accidentally felt a strong pain in her right eye
In August, Brooklyn went on a trip to the beach in Alabama with her friends.
After enjoying the sun and surf, she started to feel an intense pain in her right eye.
“I was in the most pain I’ve ever experienced and eventually went fully blind in my right eye,” she said.
At first, doctors thought she had sand in her eye. They gave her eye drops and antibiotics, believing it was a common infection.
However, the pain did not go away. Instead, it got worse over the next few weeks.
As the days passed, Brooklyn’s vision began to blur. The outer layer of her eye started to cloud over.
Frustrated and in pain, she decided to see a specialist, traveling four hours to get there.
Texas woman goes blind in one eye after wearing contact lenses to swim in the sea
The specialist took scans of her eye and discovered something alarming: parasites had burrowed into her cornea.
The parasites responsible for Brooklyn’s condition are called Acanthamoeba.
These tiny organisms are found in water, including tap water, lakes, and oceans.
Brooklyn likely contracted the parasites while swimming in the sea with her contact lenses still in.
She said, “If I could have avoided all this pain by not swimming in my contacts, then I would have done it.”
Acanthamoeba can cause a painful eye infection known as Acanthamoeba keratitis.
This infection can lead to severe pain, light sensitivity, and in serious cases, blindness.
About 90% of those who get this infection wear contact lenses.
Eye doctors strongly advise against swimming, showering, or using hot tubs while wearing contacts.
Brooklyn’s condition was diagnosed after a long period of misdiagnosis.
She had been living with pain for about six weeks before she finally received the correct diagnosis.
She described the pain as feeling like “glass was in your eye.”
The shock of the diagnosis also brought some relief, as she finally had answers after being in the dark for so long.
Unfortunately, Brooklyn has lost vision in her right eye and is now waiting for a costly cornea transplant.
The surgery has only a small chance of restoring her sight.
The total cost of her medical treatment has reached about $62,000.
To help cover these expenses, friends set up a GoFundMe page for her.
Brooklyn reflected on her long history of wearing contact lenses.
She admitted that for the past 16 years, she often wore them while swimming and showering.
She also washed her contact lens case with tap water, which can introduce harmful germs.
Brooklyn recalls her optometrist once saying that some people “get away with” wearing contacts in the water. Now, she wishes she had received better advice.