Woman almost blinded after piercing eyeball on glass shard in freak injury
Elizabeth Twitchett, 41, from Swansea, has been left with permanent damage after the 30cm piece of glass from a fish tank pierced her left eye.
A woman has been left almost blind in one eye after a 30cm shard of glass pierced her eyeball in a freak accident.
Elizabeth Twitchett, 41, was getting a broken fish tank out of her car boot at the local recycling centre when the shard accidentally pierced her eye.
Her husband Owain, also 41, rushed her to hospital where medics fought to save her sight but despite three operations it has still not returned properly, leaving her having to wear a patch for certain activities.
The business owner and piano teacher, from Swansea, described how she nearly passed out from the pain.
In the aftermath of the unexpected incident in July last year, she pulled the shard from her eyeball and called her husband, who rushed her to hospital, where medics warned she should prepare to lose her eyeball.
"It was horrendous," she said. "They said they would do their best but I had to prepare myself to wake up with no eye.
"The laceration was huge. I had a globe rupture, where the insides of my eyeball had popped out.
Read more: Crossbow attacker who shot friend in the head at point blank range is jailed
"On the drive over Owain tried to reassure me but I knew it was really really bad.
"I was desperate for them to save my eye."
Medical staff did manage to save her eyeball, but Twitchett has been left with lasting damage, including internal bleeding in her eye and scarring, as well as a detached retina that was diagnosed in November.
She has now had a total of three operations on her damaged eye and despite being initially expected to regain 75% of her vision, that prognosis has changed since her macula – the central part of her retina – was found to have scarred over.
The mum-of-two can still drive but has to wear a patch over the eye for tasks like watching TV or reading music.
She praised the NHS for the help she had received that day, saying she feels "very lucky" to have had the care she did.
She added: "But my eyelid still droops and my eye looks smaller, and because it's functional I can't get it fixed on the NHS."
Twitchett has also issued a warning to others recycling glass, urging them to wear goggles.
She said: "When I see people just chucking glass in at the tip and it sends shivers down my spine.
"If you have to chuck away glass or hard plastic take someone with you or ask staff to help - and wear goggles."
