Emma Marsdena 47-year-old woman from Lancashire, England, was left with her eyelid sewn shut and had to leave her job after contracting a rare parasitic infection in it right eye. The origin of the drama was everyday: washing your face without first removing your contact lenses.
According to the media The Mirrorit all started on February 28 when Emma tripped and fell headlong into a wheelbarrow full of barro y agua while cleaning his horses’ stable.
After the accident, he cleaned the mud from his face and hands, but forgot to remove his contact lenses. Only that same night he took them off.
After four days, his right eye began to burn. Emma consulted her GP, to whom she explained that she felt a «unbearable» pain. At that same moment she was taken to the hospital.
The first tests were inconclusive. Doctors diagnosed her with an ulcer and sent her home with eye drops as treatment.
However, the pain intensified in the following days and Emma completely lost vision in that eye. On March 7, after a new consultation with a specialist, he was diagnosed acanthamoeba keratitisa rare eye infection caused by a parasite that penetrates the cornea. They also found fusarium keratitis – a serious fungal infection of the cornea – and corneal ulcers.
The doctors explained to him that the parasite responsible for acanthamoeba keratitis is frequently found in the running water of the shin, and that the infection occurred when washing the face without having previously removed the contact lenses.
The parasite that devours the cornea
«It eats the eye, the cornea and all the nerves. The speed at which it ate amazed the doctors,» Emma said. As a result of the perforation of the cornea, the surgeons had to sew his eyelids of the right eye to promote recovery. He was prescribed drops that he had to apply every hour.
«My eye was incredibly sore and red. When I woke up the next morning, every time light hit my eye the pain was so severe that I couldn’t open it,» he recalled.
The impact on his daily life was immediate and profound. Emma had to remain three and a half weeks in the dark, unable to take care of herself. «It is an unbearable pain and everything stops, your life stops. I had three children and giving birth is a dream compared to this pain,» she said.
He was informed that he could lose vision in his right eye permanently and would need a corneal transplant in the future. «It’s very hard to think that I may never see with that eye again,» he said.
«You have no choice but to move on, you can’t sit there complaining. It’s a difficult situation, but I’m still here. I can walk, I can see with one eye and I can hear. Over time it will get better,» she said.
He currently receives weekly check-ups at the hospital and applies six doses of drops every two hours. From her experience, Emma urged those who wear contact lenses to take extreme care. «You don’t think about the consequences of not removing your contact lenses in the shower, swimming or washing your face, as was my case,» he warned.
To raise awareness, Emma created an account on TikToka social network where he tells his experience and shares the progress of his right eye. In addition, a fundraising campaign was started on the site Go Fund Me to ask for donations so they can pay for their treatment.
