Mum accidentally ‘pierced eyeball’ with 30cm fish tank shard
A woman almost lost an eye in a ‘horrible freak accident’ involving a broken fish tank.
Elizabeth Twitchett, 41, was taking it to the dump when she suffered ‘one of the worst pains’ of her life.
She was retrieving the case from the boot of her car when a 30cm shard of glass pierced her eyeball.
Recalling the incident, the piano teacher from Swansea told local press: ‘It was so gruesome – it made me think of those Final Destination films.
‘It was very traumatic – a horrible freak accident. I nearly passed out. It was one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt.’
Despite the agony, Elizabeth pulled out the shard and called her husband Owain, also 41, who rushed her to Singleton hospital.
Once there, medics performed emergency surgery in an effort to save Elizabeth’s vision.
She said: ‘They said they’d 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.
‘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.’
Even after three surgeries, Elizabeth says she has suffered lasting damage and has to wear an eyepatch when performing certain activities, such as watching television or reading.
She recalled: ‘I didn’t look in the mirror for a fortnight. And when I did it was awful – I had so much bruising around my eye and massive black stitches.
Although Elizabeth returned to work earlier in September, it was soon discovered during one of her weekly check-ups that she was suffering from internal bleeding.
She was initially expected to recover at least 75% of her vision, but the central part of her retina has scarred, at one point detaching completely, meaning she is very unlikely to achieve a full recovery.
The mum of two has nothing but positive praise for the medical staff who’ve helped her throughout her ordeal.
She said: ‘I really can’t say enough positive words about my experience with the NHS.
‘I think I only waited an hour that day. The staff were amazing. I feel very lucky to have had the care that I did.
‘But my eyelid still droops and my eye looks smaller, and because it’s functional I can’t get it fixed on the NHS.’
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