39-year-old Chad Groeschen of Cincinnati, Ohio, hopes his tragic story will serve as a warning to others. Groeschen is now blind in his left eye after simply sleeping in his contact lenses. Many people are aware that they shouldn’t wear contacts overnight, but few understand why it’s dangerous even though some brands claim they are “safe for overnight use”.
His lenses were supposed to be safe for overnight wear, but bacteria became trapped between his eye and the lens. One afternoon Groeschen noticed his eye starting to itch and the next morning it was filled with a yellow goop. By the third day his vision was blurry and Groeschen started to get truly worried.
Groeschen contracted a Pseudomonas bacterial infection which lead to a corneal ulcer. The resulting scar tissue ultimately blinded him and left Groeschen in searing pain for nearly 3 weeks. His only hope at this point for normal vision is a complete corneal transplant.