The solar eclipse taking place today has many individuals both excited and slightly concerned. In fact, a New York City woman revealed that she experienced “irreversible eye damage” after looking at the sun during the 2017 solar eclipse.
Amid various reports of recalled eclipse glasses, some people are wondering whether they should look at the eclipse or simply avoid it at all costs. If you don’t have the right protective eyewear, you absolutely should not look at the sun — even just for a few moments.
If you do have eclipse glasses, make sure they’re the right ones. Regular sunglasses definitely won’t protect you, and some of the ones sold on Amazon have been deemed unsafe for use. The only ones you should trust are those that comply with the ISO 12312-2 standard.
NYC Woman Experienced ‘Irreversible Eye Damage’ From Solar Eclipse
Bridget Kyeremateng, 29, took to TikTok to tell her story about experiencing eye damage during the 2017 solar eclipse.
“I did look at the solar eclipse six and a half years ago,” she said, explaining that she didn’t have glasses at the time but figured it wouldn’t be a huge deal. So, she looked at the sun for about 10-15 seconds without any protection.
“I couldn’t focus on the sun or the exact curvature of the moon,” she told the NY Post. “I thought I would close one of my eyes. To get a better focus. I could barely see anything, but I stared at the sun for a good 10 to 15 seconds before my eyes were starting to not feel good, so I walked inside.”
The next morning, she woke up and couldn’t see properly out of her left eye.
“I opened up my left eye to read on my phone and I couldn’t read every other word,” she said in her video. After realizing what had happened, she visited an eye doctor.
“There is some distortion that has happened because I looked at the sun, which causes a bit of what [the eye doctor] calls ‘slow 20/20 vision,'” Kyeremateng said. “I can still see perfectly, but it takes me a while to read letters or words if my right eye is covered.”
Unfortunately, she has lasting and irreversible damage, including a blind spot in the middle of her iris. Use this as your cautionary tale not to stare at this year’s solar eclipse without the right glasses!