A lifeguard from Rockville Centre, New York went blind after swimming in a pool with her contacts on. This horrifying incident occurred due to parasites burrowing in her cornea, permanently damaging her eye.
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53-year-old Maureen Cronin has to quit her job after the ordeal. She had been teaching private swim lessons to children in their private pools since June 2024 without any issues. Cronin had worn her contacts while swimming many times, so it never seemed like an issue.
Blind Woman Warns Swimmers Of Wearing Contacts Near Water
That was until she began to feel irritating pain in her right eye. The teacher described it as feeling like she "had a piece of sand" stuck in her eye which pushed her to see an eye doctor. Thinking it was nothing bad, they prescribed her eye drops, but it slowly got worse.
Cronin recalled how the situation got worse pretty quickly. "I had my contacts in and I would take my goggles off and show them how to go underwater and how fun it was. My eye started to bother me pretty quickly."
Doctors reportedly continued to misdiagnose the lifeguard, and even one of them thought she had herpes. Finally, in August she received a diagnosis of acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). This rare parasitic eye infection hospitalized her at Stony Brook University Hospital for 48 days.
Amoebas cause this rare infection, and they can reside in freshwater, saltwater, and even pools. Cronin just so happened to swim in a pool with an amoeba.
In September, Cronin underwent a cornea transplant to try and save her vision. Unfortunately, her eye rejected the transplant, leaving her completely blind in that eye. She also claimed that she developed glaucoma after using the pain-relieving steroid eye drops her doctors prescribed her.
Although Cronin is awaiting her next cornea transplant, she is worried about it not working again. "It feels like it's never-ending and I'm nervous."
Images of Cronin show just how devastating the damage was. Her right eye looks glassy like smoke is covering it. Now after this shocking life transformation, Cronin is raising awareness of the dangers of wearing contacts in the water.
"AK is not well known and it is often misdiagnosed," she said. "I would say anyone who wears contact lenses shouldn't wear them near any body of water. Don't even wear them when it rains."
