According to the Daily Mail, a parasite infection caused a Texas woman to lose vision in her right eye. Her contact lenses made the infection easier to spread.
Brooklyn McCasland, a 23-year-old, decided to take a dip in the ocean in August. Unconcerned about her contact lenses, she went swimming, as she always does, without taking them out. To her surprise, she has never encountered any issues while showering, bathing, or swimming with her lenses in.
She received a diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis, an eye infection caused by parasites that burrow into the cornea and destroy healthy tissue and cells. This condition has left her blind in one eye, causing excruciating pain for several weeks.
McCasland’s initial consultations with the doctors proved unfruitful. At first, the doctors believed that her deteriorating vision was caused by a common infection rather than the parasitic infections that were slowly making her go blind. As a result, they prescribed eye drops and antibiotics.
For a month and a half, she endured a series of misdiagnoses while her vision continued to blur. McCasland vividly described the excruciating pain as feeling like having “glass in your eye.”
After multiple consultations, she was ultimately referred to a specialist in Tyler, Texas. Later, she was transferred to Dallas for a comprehensive culture examination, which proved to be “excruciatingly painful,” as mentioned in her GoFundMe page. Finally, the tests conclusively identified her condition as Acanthamoeba keratitis.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, she expressed a mix of shock and relief upon receiving all the answers she was seeking.
Currently, she is undergoing an expensive treatment and eagerly awaiting a cornea transplant. Collectively, these procedures will cost her a staggering $67,000.
The parasite thrives in water and has the potential to infect anyone, regardless of whether they wear contact lenses or not. However, individuals who wear contact lenses are at a higher risk of contracting the infection. The Cleveland Clinic reports that approximately 1,500 Americans fall victim to this disease each year, with a staggering 90% of these cases involving individuals who wear contact lenses.
Jessica McCasland has been through weeks of agony and is now facing the unfortunate consequence of losing her vision in one eye due to this preventable and mysterious illness. As a result, her depth perception has been greatly affected, leading her to have to quit her job. McCasland also expressed that even exposure to light has become a source of pain for her.
To ensure your safety, it is important to remove your contact lenses before engaging in activities such as swimming, showering, or bathing.