Woman blind, disabled from contact lens
Adam Marshall, Brisbane March 6, 2014, 7:00 pm<object id="flashObj" classid="clsid
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A Queensland mother has been left disabled and blind by a disease she contracted through wearing contact lenses.
Optometrists warn while cases are rare by the time it's diagnose, it's too late to treat.
“Six years ago I put a contact lens in my eye, went to work and I guess that changed my life for good,” Claire Wilkinson said.
“One in a million people get it and I was that one in a million person (who) got it.”
The contact lens was infected by a microscopic parasite, which feeds on bacteria and breeds in still water.
The human eye is the parasite's preferred environment; it not only feeds on bacteria, but the eye itself leading to a disease known as acanthamoeba keratitis.
Disinfectant solution should kill the bug, but when 34-year-old Claire used Complete Moisture Plus to clean her contact lenses, a single bug survived.
“It's caused me to have a stroke, I have had brain surgery,” she said.
“Who would've thought that would all happen from a contact lens?”
The solution has been recalled by American manufacturer Advanced Medical Optics.
Claire has received compensation but she warns contact lens users who bathe their lenses in water are at risk of contracting the microscopic parasite.
“The young people that are changing the colours in their eyes or wearing cats eyes and things like that, they need to be aware that putting a foreign object into your eye is dangerous,” she said.
It's very difficult to diagnose so by the time the correct diagnosis is made, by the time they've seen the specialist, the bug has then infiltrated the cornea and the cornea becomes opaque.
Around 700,000 Australians wear contact lenses, 25 to 34-year-olds are the highest users.
Claire is now trying to raise money to pay for the installation of a hydro pool. It's vital for her to overcome the effects of her stroke and regain some quality of life.
“If someone said to me ‘we could fix your eye and it's going to cost you $10 million’, I'd walk to 10 million houses and ask for $1 for each one because I just want it fixed, but it's not ever going to be fixed.”
