A Texas woman has gone blind in her right eye thanks to a parasitic infection, according to the Daily Mail. Her contact lenses facilitated the infection.
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Brooklyn McCasland, 23, went swimming at the beach in August. She had been wearing her contact lenses at the time. She says that she always showers, bathes, and swims with her lenses in and hasn't had a problem.
Unfortunately, after many doctor consultations and examinations, she's been diagnosed with Acanthamoeba Keratitis, eye parasites that dig into the cornea and eat away at the healthy tissue and cells. This has blinded her eye after weeks of the "worst pain she'd ever felt".
Contact Lenses Allow Parasites To Blind Woman
Initial consultations with the doctors weren't fruitful for McCasland. What were parasitic infections slowly making her blind were initially thought to be a run-of-the-mill infection. Doctors administered eye drops and antibiotics.
The misdiagnoses went on for a month and a half. Over this time, her vision started blurring. McCasland described the pain as though having "glass in your eye."
She was finally recommended to a specialist in Tyler, Texas. Then she was moved along to Dallas for a more thorough culture, which was "extremely painful," according to her GoFundMe. Those tests at last confirmed exactly what she was suffering from: Acanthamoeba Keratitis.
"It was a shock but also a relief to have everything answered," she told the Daily Mail.
She's currently on expensive treatment and is expecting a cornea transplant. Combined, this will set her back $67,000.
This parasite lives in water and can affect anyone with or without contact lenses. However, wearing contact lenses when around water increases the risk of infection. 1,500 Americans suffer with this disease a year, according to The Cleveland Clinic. 90% of those cases include people wearing contact lenses.
McCasland has not only endured weeks of pain but is now blind in one eye thanks to this avoidable and unknown disease. Her depth perception is suffering because of it and she's had to leave work. She said that getting light in her eyes are now painful to her.
If you wear contact lenses, make sure to take them out when swimming, showering, or bathing to be on the safe side.
