A new york woman was left blind in one eye after making a common mistake with her contact lenses.
MAUREEN Cronin-A 53-YAR-old LifeGuard from Long Island-Began Teaching Private Swimming Lessons to Children in June 2024.
“I would teach them how to not be afraid to put their face in the water and become The daily mail,
“I had my contacts in and i would take my goggles off and show that how to go underwater and how fun it was,” She Recalled.
Kennedy News & Media
Cronin trained about Seven kids before noticing that her right eye was irritating heritting heritting her, feel Within two weeks, she decides to visit an eye doctor after the pain man unbearable.
“They said it was a cornea laceration and I had a crack on my cornea and they give me some drops to take,” She said.
Cronin Told the outlet that the condition of her eye continued to Worsen so she sought other medical opinions. “I was in excruciating pain. My Eye Was WorsE and I was covening my eye with tissue paper or an eye patch, ”She said. “The pain felt like something was scratching my eye from the inside.”
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After a month with multiple misdagnoses, a specialist confirmed that she had contracted the parasite acanthamoeba keratitis (ak), an amoeba that can damage your cornea and cause vision losses, Accord Cleveland clinic,
Following Her Diagnosis, Cronin was hospitalized on aug. 7, 2024, at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York. She Spent 48 Days There Before Undergoing A Cornea Transplant in September 2024. Removed Immedited.
“I'm blind now in this eye with everything so it is very upsetting. It's isolating, “She admitted, noting that her once-blue eye is now cloudy and” off-potting. ”
“I don't want to meet any new people, it gives me anxiety and i worry about what people think when they see my eyes,” Cronin Continued. “I now have a fear of being near any kind of water. I shower with my goggles on. ”
Kennedy News & Media
Acanthamoeba keratitis infections are rare, with an estimated 1,500 infections in the us annual – but contact lens wearers make up a whopping 90% of that. According to the Cleveland clinicWearing contacts for too long, improperly storing or cleaning them, and wearing them while swimming or showering can increase your risk of contrasting the parasite.
Also, “Contact lens wear causes minor corneal abrasions, which is the key initial step for acanthamoeba infection,” the National Library of Medicine Pointed out.
Since Her Diagnosis, Cronin said Sheid She's Now Raising Awareness about Lenses for Nearly 20 years.
“AK is not well know and it is often Misdignode,” She Added. “I would say anyone who wears contact lenses should be near them near any body of water. Don't even wear them when it rains. “