A cautionary tale - Eye Injury Grinding

Start at the beginning... I've been modifying Suzukis for nigh on 25 years, I'm 47 now, and through-out my life my Dad - who was a steel fabricator all his life, he's retired now - has always impressed on me the need for eye protection when grinding. And I've always followed his advice...

Well, last Monday I was cutting the backing plates of the rear shafts to fit the disk brake conversion kit, safety GLASSES on, and all went well... or so I thought?...

Wednesday, my missus received a parcel in the post, some floating chlorine tablets for the hot-tub we've recently had (that's what I was doing in May instead of the buggy, remodelling the back garden, including installing that), anyway I digress, she said "Ooooh, smell these", and I turned to the left and had a sniff, and got a flash of chlorine evaporation cloud in my left eye, and for a while it stung and was sensitive to light...

On Thursday I looked at my eye closely in the mirror, and spotted a filing at the edge of my iris in my left eye, I hadn't felt anything up until then but it was now starting to sting a bit and I could feel the eyelid rubbing against it when I blinked... It didn't hurt that much though, and what with working I didn't get around to ringing the local A&E department until this Monday morning, and they put me straight through to the local Eye Hospital on a separate site...

So, I've been this morning and had it all checked out, and it was indeed a filing of metal that appears to have bounced somewhere and got behind the edge of the safety glasses and landed sideways into my eye.

After a thorough look at both eyes, under the eyelids etc, they then put anaesthetic drops into my eye, and whilst I stared at a focal point on the wall, the practising nurse picked the offending piece of metal out with a needle! A very weird feeling, I couldn't "feel" anything obviously because of the anaesthetic drops, but to watch the needle going in and out of your eye, and hear (in your head) the needle scratching at the filing was really weird...

The first nurse then stopped and said she wanted to take advice from a senior colleague, and another practising nurse then came in, introduced herself, and agreed that as the piece of metal filing had hit my eye at an angle it was under a flap of tissue, and the senior nurse then took over and picked the RUST out of my eye! As it had been lodged there a week there was a ring of rust left on the eye tissue which needed picking out with the needle too...

They got the filing and the ring of rust out anyway, but there's a ring of rust at the bottom where the piece of metal filing came to rest, so I've got eye drops to put in four times a day until Friday morning, when the eye should soften up and the second rust ring should be more accessible, and they're going to have another go at picking at my eye with a needle while I watch again...!

SO, a cautionary tale, please please when YOU are grinding please WEAR PROPER GOGGLES, not safety specs, and definitely don't grind without eye protection... My Dad was right, as always... wouldn't want anyone else going through what I just had!

Dave

That made me cringe so much Dave. Right from now on GOGGLES at all times. *Shudders*

You're braver than i am. Very good warning about eye protection and i may even get on at TomTom about this. He never wears goggles when cutting.

Hopefully they can get everything out soon and you can make a full recovery.

a quote from Shropshire-Suzuki days ... This thread is useless without pictures.

Will you be able to come to the Lakes Weekend?

I've also had that strange experience of watching the needle and hearing the skin being picked at twice. Both times i had been wearing safety glasses, once was glasses and face shield, But it can still happen.
Good luck with the follow up Dave.

Thanks All

Yes, Brett, no worries there! back in work already (I did give myself half an hour off afterwards and sat down with a cuppa!) just aches a bit now the anaesthetic is wearing off...

I did ask whether I'd be alright for a diabetic retinopathy on the 18th, and they yes you'll be fine by then... (eye drops to open your pupils right up and they take photos of the back of your eyeballs to check for changes from diabetes)

Better order some goggles! and bin them safety glasses...

Made me shudder......it's not until something like that happens you realise how delicate and important your eyes are, good luck with getting the rest out