A British mother of three has been left with her eye sewn shut after parasites ate through her cornea, forcing her to give up her job. Emma Marsden, 47, developed acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare eye infection caused by a parasite burrowing into her cornea, after washing her face while wearing contact lenses. The infection also included fusarium keratitis, a severe fungal infection, and corneal ulcers.
How the Infection Occurred
Emma had been cleaning up after horses when she fell into a wheelbarrow filled with dirt and water. She washed herself down to remove the mud but did not remove her contact lenses until much later in the evening. The parasite, commonly found in tap water, is believed to have entered her eye during this washing. Four days later, she visited her GP with excruciating pain in her left eye.
Doctors initially diagnosed an ulcer and discharged her with eyedrops, but the pain intensified. She eventually lost all vision in the affected eye. On March 7, she received the diagnosis of acanthamoeba keratitis.
Impact on Life and Work
Emma described the pain as excruciating, saying, "It's pretty heartbreaking to think I might never see out of that eye again. It's excruciatingly painful and everything just stops, your life stops. I've had three kids and giving birth is a dream compared to this pain." She added, "It eats through your eye and cornea and all your nerves. The speed it ate at the doctors couldn't believe it."
The infection has forced her to give up her job due to the severity of the condition and the demanding treatment schedule.
Treatment and Warning
Emma now receives daily hospital treatment and administers six doses of eye drops every two hours. She has urged contact lens wearers to be vigilant, stating, "You don't think about the knock-on effect just by not taking your contact lenses out in the shower or to swim in, or to wash your face in my case. I still wear my contact lenses in my left eye because it isn't the contact lens that did this but it was the wearer [me] not having the knowledge of how to look after them properly and what not to do."
