A woman experienced a severe issue with her contact lenses, leading to a significant loss of eyesight.
Millions around the world use contact lenses daily, and many might have unknowingly repeated Maureen Cronin’s mistake, which led her to a rare infection diagnosis.
Maureen faced a crisis in August of the previous year when she was admitted to Stony Brook University Hospital in New York.
At 53 years old, she underwent a cornea transplant in September 2024, but unfortunately, her eye rejected the transplant.
Maureen asserts that the steroid drops given to alleviate pain have led her to develop glaucoma. Because of this, she has become nearly blind in her right eye and is awaiting another cornea transplant in hopes of regaining some vision.
The root of the infection traces back to Maureen’s decision to wear contact lenses while swimming.
Last June, Maureen began offering swimming lessons to children in their backyard pools. After instructing seven children while wearing her contact lenses, she started experiencing irritation in her right eye.
A contact lens user for nearly two decades, Maureen described the sensation as having a grain of sand in her eye. When the pain intensified, she visited an eye specialist who provided her with eye drops.
Unfortunately, the drops were ineffective, and she was eventually diagnosed with acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). The Cleveland Clinic describes AK as “a rare parasitic eye infection from a certain type of amoeba.”
The description continues: “It affects the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped front covering of your eye. When not treated, it can damage your eyes and cause loss of sight.”
Maureen is now actively spreading awareness about her AK diagnosis, aiming to caution others against wearing contact lenses in water to prevent similar incidents.
“I am hopeful but fearful at the same time [about the next cornea transplant]. I’m afraid it won’t take. It feels like it’s never ending and I’m nervous,” she expressed.
“AK is not well known and it is often misdiagnosed. I would say anyone who wears contact lenses shouldn’t wear them near any body of water.”
Maureen shared her new apprehension: “I now have a fear of being near any kind of water. I shower with my goggles on.”
She added, “My eye is cloudy because of the cataract and the pupil is large. It’s off putting because the pupil is so big and it looks cloudy.”
Maureen emphasized, “If you treat it early, you can kill the parasite and you don’t have to go through the hospital and surgery process.
“I was not aware at all, I was never told by my optician to never wear them in water.”