Tom Crean’s Snow-blindness.
Terra Nova Expedition – Southern Journey.
On January 6th 1912, Bill Lashly recorded in his diary;
“Crean’s eyes are pretty bad tonight. Snow-blindness is an awful complaint, and no one I can assure you looks forward with pleasure when it begins to attack.”
Lashly, Crean and Lt. Edward Evans had parted company with Scott and the polar party, just 150 miles from the South Pole on January 4th. The three men faced into their 750 mile return trek to the base at Cape Evans.
Being a three man team, instead of the conventional four-man unit, they were accustomed to (as Scott had elected to bring an extra man to the pole) made their already arduous task, even more daunting. The last thing the trio needed was an early setback, but just one day into the journey, on January 5th, Lashly had noted;
“Crean has become snow-blind to-day through being leader, so I shall have the job to-morrow, as Mr. Evans seems to get blind rather quickly, so if I lead and he directs me from behind we ought to get along pretty well. I hope my eyes will keep alright. We made good 17 miles and camped.”
Despite Tom Crean’s snow-blindness, it seems he was no burden on the team, as 17 miles was an excellent distance to have covered in a day, in the harsh Antarctic climate. On January 7th, Lashly noted that Crean’s eyes had improved, but he was still far from better. On the 10th of January 1912, Lashly’s last entry for that day, simply stated;
“Crean’s eyes have got alright again now.”
They could now push on at full strength, and already concern was mounting, regarding reaching their depots on schedule. Lashly was deducting, and holding in reserve, small portions from each ration, just in case they failed to reach their supply caches in time. They were however making good ground, and Lashly’s cautiousness was borne, more from the explorers dread of being unable to locate their tiny mound of supplies, on the vast white landscape, than from any discernible shortfall in effort or progress.
Snow-blindness, aka – Photokeratitis.
Photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis is a painful eye condition caused by exposure of insufficiently protected eyes to the ultraviolet (UV) rays from either natural (e.g. intense sunlight) or artificial (e.g. the electric arc during welding) sources. Photokeratitis is akin to a sunburn of the cornea and conjunctiva, and is not usually noticed until several hours after exposure. Symptoms include increased tears and a feeling of pain, likened to having sand in the eyes.
The injury may be prevented by wearing eye protection that blocks most of the ultraviolet radiation, such as welding goggles with the proper filters, a welder’s helmet, sunglasses rated for sufficient UV protection, or appropriate snow goggles. The condition is usually managed by removal from the source of ultraviolet radiation, covering the corneas, and administration of pain relief. Photokeratitis is known by a number of different terms including: snow blindness, arc eye, welder’s flash, bake eyes, corneal flash burns, flash burns, niphablepsia, or keratoconjunctivitis photoelectrica.
Source – Wikipedia