How Easy is It to Pop Your Eye Out
A MUM has opened up about the horrifying moment her eyeball fell out of its socket while she was on holiday.
Claire Willis, 45, felt a "pop" as she was patting a towel to her face after getting out the shower.
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She looked up to catch her reflection in the mirror moments later, fearing her eyeball was hanging out of its socket.
The mum-of-two, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, has since had to have part of her eye removed after doctors discovered she perforated her cornea.
And she has even quit her job as a school cleaner over fears she might frighten the children.
Claire said she "looked like an extra from The Walking Dead" and has to wait until the socket heals so she can get a prosthetic.
Her terrifying ordeal happened when she least expected it, while on holiday to Turkey with her husband Timothy, 52, in July.
She said: "Tim and I were getting ready in the hotel room to go meet friends, and as it's really hot in Turkey, I had a shower to refresh myself.
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"I was drying myself in the bathroom when I just felt this pop in my eye, followed by extreme blurry vision and an excruciating amount of pain.
"I thought my eyeball had actually popped out of my socket, that's how painful it was.
"I raced to the mirror and I couldn't see any blood or anything - it just looked red and sore and everything was blurry.
"Tim rushed me to a local hospital and a doctor told me that I had perforated my cornea and that I needed to go back to the UK.
"I was devastated, and I just couldn't understand how my life had come to this or where to go from here."
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Within hours, Claire was on a flight home back to the UK with a huge bandage over her poorly eye.
Claire went straight to Royal Stoke University Hospital when she landed where doctors were shocked to see how infected her eye had become during the flight.
Her right eye was fused shut with infection, forcing doctors to clamp her eyelids open to get a look at her eyeball which had turned completely yellow.
Claire spent the next nine days in hospital as doctors tried to fight the infection, but it was no use, and the suggestion of amputation was made.
I was devastated, and I just couldn't understand how my life had come to this or where to go from here
Claire Willis
She said: "I felt so isolated in the hospital, and when they suggested amputation, I was totally against the idea.
"My dad ended up convincing me to have the eyeball amputated.
"Although I was devastated at the idea, I was in so much pain that I knew it needed to be done.
"There was no saving my sight, but the surgeon decided to perform a partial removal of my eyeball rather than a full one.
"He removed the middle of my eye - the retina and cornea - and fitted a cosmetic shell over the lens of my eye."
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Claire's surgery was a success, and she was allowed to return home just one day after her operation.
She had to keep the bandages on for another week after surgery, and it wasn't until eight days following the removal that Claire was able to look in the mirror.
The shock of her new appearance was devastating as Claire struggled to adjust to the idea of living with one real eye for the rest of her life.
Speaking of after the op, she added: "After the bandages came off, I had to cope with how I looked and the reality hit me.
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What is cornea perforation?
Corneal perforation is the rupturing of the thin protective outer layer which covers the pupil.
The cornea prevents dirt and germs from harming the eye.
Corneal perforation is mainly caused by impact injuries, trauma, disease and progressive corneal thinning.
A common cause of corneal thinning is rheumatoid arthritis which destroys the stroma - the middle and thickest layer made up mostly of water and proteins that give it an elastic but solid form.
It often is very painful and can be identified by several symptoms such as impaired vision and leakage which may be mistaken for tears.
Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
"I looked like an extra from The Walking Dead, and I even left my cleaning job at a school because of how it looked - I didn't want to scare the kiddies.
"I was having anxiety issues in public, which really isn't like me.
"I had to learn alone how to cope with a half amputated eye - it was sticky on the lids and I was scared to clean it in case I knocked the cosmetic shell out.
"I never hid my eye though. I didn't wear sunglasses, I've just worn my everyday glasses and I know it's not forever, it's only until the prosthetic eye is fitted.
"I fought my demons, and every day, I pushed myself to go out and slowly but surely, I started feeling more confident."
I looked like an extra from The Walking Dead, and I even left my cleaning job at a school because of how it looked - I didn't want to scare the kiddies
Claire Willis
Brave Claire is now battling on to get her life back on track after the trauma of losing her eye, but the adjustment has been difficult.
Desperate to not have their annual holiday taken so suddenly, Claire and Timothy re-booked flights to Turkey as soon as she was given the all clear to fly.
Tragedy struck again as Thomas Cook announced their collapse just five days before they were due to fly on 28 September.
Devastated but determined, the couple are now searching for another holiday and have their fingers crossed for third time lucky.
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Claire said: "I'm still at my cleaning job for the council, but I gave up my school cleaning job.
"I was struggling mentally and physically, and I just couldn't cope with two jobs any more.
"My eye isn't ready yet to have a prosthetic fitted, so I just have to wait and stay looking like this until my socket has recovered enough, but I don't know when that will be.
"Timothy has been so supportive throughout it all, and our two children, Ben, 22, and Daniel, 20, still live at home so they've been helping me lots around the house.
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"All we wanted was to go back on holiday and still try to have some fun this year, and our bags were all packed ready to go when Thomas Cook collapsed a few days before we were due to fly.
"It was just yet another thing to go wrong, but I'm trying to stay positive and we're looking for another holiday deal before the year is over."
An ophthalmologist from Royal Stoke University Hospital said: "This lady had particular circumstances that led to a thinner than normal cornea in her case."
Akil Mitchell's eye pops out of his socket during New Zealand basketball game
Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/10148474/pop-eyeball-fell-out-socket-dried-face-after-shower/
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