Daniella Abreu, a Florida native, decided to take her 60-pound husky, Blu, for a walk. Per PEOPLE, the regular rope leash Abreu typically used had been too frayed. So, she had to bust out her old retractable leash. As they were walking around the neighborhood, Blu spotted a rabbit. Blu lunged for the critter, and Abreu went to pull the leash back.
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"As he was running one way and I was pulling the opposite way, the friction of the leash just snapped back and repelled, hitting me right in my eye," Abreu told the outlet. "It happened so fast but I knew it was bad immediately. The force of the leash was so traumatic."
"There was so much blood. I thought I completely lost my eye, so my flight or fight mode kicked in and I was able to run home. I ran inside screaming. My mom got to me first and I just fell into her arms and got really pale. ... I was losing a lot of blood and eventually I just passed out. All the shock going through my body just overpowered the feeling."
Florida Resident Loses An Eye Due To A Retractable Leash
Abreu suffered a fracture beneath her eye, a retina detachment, and her eyelid was split open. An emergency surgery had to be done. When Abreu woke up, she was told that her eye was entirely unsalvageable. She'd be permanently blind in her right eye.
"I had to put my entire life on pause. I went from being a super active girl — on a competitive dance team, working out on the side, a full-time job — and I basically had to take a year off of life," Abreu remembered. Four surgeries later, Abreu was given a prosthetic eye. "I don't like the movement of my prosthetic, the range of motion is very limited. I still wear a lot of sunglasses everywhere I go because I'm so embarrassed by how it looks," she stated.
However, Abreu has since found a community on TikTok that supports her, and she's learning to adjust to her new life. "I've had a lot of people reach out and it made me realize there's a whole community of people who have one eye, not even due to just freak accidents, but various other reasons. It also made me feel good to talk about it and spread awareness."
