A pregnant mum from County Durham feared she would not be able to see her newborn after being diagnosed with a rare parasitic eye infection that was damaging her cornea.
Amy Weatherburn, 30, was working at a leisure centre in June 2026 when she noticed the vision in her left eye had become blurry. She initially put it down to 'dry eye' caused by the hot weather, having used a spray mist water bottle fan to keep cool.
When her symptoms worsened to the point where she could not watch TV or be in direct sunlight, she visited an optician and was referred to an eye specialist, who she says told her it was a viral infection similar to herpes or shingles.
Repeated hospital visits and a delayed diagnosis
Over the following month, the mum-of-two says she visited A&E on several occasions as her symptoms did not improve despite using antiviral gels and tablets. Heavily pregnant at the time, she claims she spent two months hiding away in the dark and had to wear sunglasses to her baby shower because of the pain.
She also says her pupil had turned 'cloudy' and she feared she might not be able to see her newborn when she gave birth. Following another appointment with an eye specialist, Amy was diagnosed with acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) in August 2026.
AK is a rare eye infection caused by a parasite burrowing into the cornea. It can be hard to diagnose in the early stages because other corneal infections have similar symptoms.
Cause and treatment
Amy believes her eye became infected after she sprayed water onto her face through a spray bottle fan while at work to cool down. After her diagnosis, she says medical professionals believe her low immune system due to pregnancy and the sprayed water were a combined cause of the infection.
After taking eye drops to treat the infection, her vision started to improve, and she was able to see her daughter Ember Weatherburn when she gave birth on August 23.
Amy, from Durham, said: "I get 'dry eye' quite a lot and I didn't think a lot of it, and the weather was hot.
"Eventually I couldn't even face daylight or watch TV. It was streaming with water, swollen and really red. I couldn't look at my own reflection in a mirror for months.
"I was hiding away in the dark for two months. For my baby shower, I had it at my grandma's house and they shut all the blinds for me and I had to wear sunglasses.
"It affected everything and I don't think I was able to enjoy the end of my pregnancy at all. One of my biggest fears was not being able to see my daughter when she was born. Luckily, because I had started taking the medication a few weeks beforehand, I was able to see her.
"But while I was in labour, my partner was having to put my eye drops in. Thinking about what it actually is [a parasite] is scary as you don't know how much worse it is going to get at the time. What worries me is this can happen to me again and there's a possibility I might need a cornea transplant in the future too."
What is acanthamoeba keratitis?
Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a rare parasitic eye infection affecting the cornea, caused by an organism, an amoeba, usually found in bodies of water. If not treated properly, it can cause eye damage or even sight loss and is more common in people who wear contact lenses.
AK is caused by a microscopic free-living amoeba called Acanthamoeba. Although not always the cause, it has been linked to contact lens wearers and water exposure.
Amy said: "I was using a water bottle with a fan on it and you can spray the water through the fan.
"It was a lifesaver to get through the heatwave, especially when pregnant.
"I used it [the water spray bottle] religiously to get through my work days as I work in a swimming pool so it's always set to high temperatures to keep the pools warm.
"The amoebas, which is what this infection is, live in pretty much all water sources.
"They also live in soil and the air. If you have a low immune system, or you have an eye injury like a corneal scratch, or you wear contact lenses, it makes you more vulnerable.
"I didn't have a corneal scratch and I had been wearing glasses.
"They [doctors] think it's because I had a low immune system and then they [the infection] was in the water in this water bottle."
Amy is still having to take eye drops four times a day and steroids to treat her eye as her vision has not fully returned. While it appears like she has a 'lazy eye', she has been told there is no longer any sign of infection in her left eye.
Now, Amy is raising awareness about how important eye hygiene is to stop this from happening to anyone else.
Amy said: "I have blue eyes so it's hard to tell but it's definitely cloudy and extremely swollen compared to my other eye.
"You can't avoid getting water in your eyes but contact lens wearers should not swim or wear them in the shower.
"You need to be so careful about getting water near your eye if you're wearing them. If your eye feels dry as well, you shouldn't put your lenses in either.
"They said mine was nothing to do with contact lenses but it [AK] is just way more common with contact lens wearers."
