A teenager in England suffered excruciating pain and temporary blindness after an egg she had cooked in the microwave exploded in her face.
Courtney Wood is still recovering vision in her left eye following the ordeal which took place on Boxing Day. The teen from Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire is sending a public warning so that no one will have to face the same trauma.
“I was cooking myself some breakfast,” the 19-year-old explained, Stoke-on-Trent Live reported.
“I had put some bacon under the grill and then I put an egg in a jug with a bit of water—as I have done before—and popped it in the microwave for a minute.
Horrific injuries of teen, 19, blinded after egg cooked in microwave explodes in her face https://t.co/YXVpyzK2ll pic.twitter.com/FNvFs6Ex15
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“The microwave didn’t ping so I took the egg back out, popped it on the side and checked on the bacon. When I turned back towards the jug the egg exploded in my face.”
Her skin began to blister almost immediately. Wood rushed straight to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.
Wood, a care assistant who lives on her own, said she then rang a friend.
“By this point I couldn’t see and I was screaming in pain. My friend came round straightaway and he called 111 who told me to go straight to A&E [Accident and Emergency],” Wood said, according to Stoke-on-Trent Live.
Fortunately, the injury was superficial and the egg had only scratched the surface of both her corneas, with her left eye being more affected than her right, Wood was told by doctors at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
The cornea is the clear window or transparent layer that forms the front of the eye and has an average thickness of about 0.55 millimeters.
Doctors prescribed Wood with morphine and applied a wet gauze on the eye area, according to reports.
“The sight in my right eye came back within 48 hours but I still can’t see properly out of my left,” Wood said.
She stayed with her mother for several days following the incident.
“I have eye drops and steroids, and I have to go back to the eye clinic every day until my eyes have healed. Doctors have told me the sight in my left eye may not be restored for a week or maybe even longer.
“This was the worst pain I have ever suffered—it was horrific—and I would hate anyone else to have to go through what I have been through,” she said.
The cornea can usually heal on its own following a superficial injury or scratches to its surface. However, if injuries area deeper, permanent corneal scarring can result, which can impede vision depending on the location of the scarring.
Trauma to the cornea can also potentially cause the person to be at risk of a condition called recurrent corneal erosion (RCE), which afflicts the person with sudden eye watering, pain, and light sensitivity. The condition is chronic and can relapse.
RCE occurs when the cornea’s outermost layer fails to attach to the underlying layers. While trauma is the main cause, people who suffer from corneal dystrophies are also at risk.
With adequate treatment, symptoms can be alleviated. However, the affected eye(s) may take years to heal.