During the August solar eclipse, people across the country rushed outside wielding eclipse glasses and various homemade devices so they could stare directly into the sun. And with so many people planning to look straight into the sky, warnings about the damage a solar eclipse can do to your eyes were everywhere. One woman from New York heeded those warnings, but it turns out her eye protection wasn't enough. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, a woman was left with crescent-shaped damage in her eye after looking at the sun with faulty eclipse glasses.
According to CNN, 26-year-old Nia Payne borrowed a stranger's eclipse glasses to view the phenomenon on August 21. She told CNN she thought the sun looked pretty bright through the glasses, but Nia didn't think much of it, trusting that the glasses would protect her. But when a dark spot developed in the center of her vision six hours after viewing the eclipse, and when she lost vision in the center of her left eye the following day, Nia went to the hospital.
Nia was diagnosed with solar retinopathy, CNN reports, with the damage mainly in her left eye. According to the Vision Eye Institute, solar retinopathy occurs when harmful radiation from the sun reaches the retinas. This radiation " literally cooks the exposed tissue," according to the Vision Eye Institute, causing a small blind spot. In addition to the blind spot, symptoms of solar retinopathy include watering and sore eyes, discomfort looking at bright light, trouble determining shapes, and more. There is no treatment for solar retinopathy, but it typically heals within a month to a year. More severe cases could cause permanent loss of vision.
For Nia, the damage she suffered was in the exact shape of the eclipse from where she viewed it in New York. Using new technology, doctors were better able to determine the shape of the damage, CNN reports, seeing the crescent-shaped blind spot in imaging. While solar retinopathy can heal, Nia is still struggling with a blind spot.
"So far, it's a nightmare, and sometimes it makes me very sad when I close my eyes and see it," she told CNN. "It's embarrassing. People will assume I was just one of those people who stared blankly at the sun or didn't check the person with the glasses. It's something I have to live with for the rest of my life. But it could be a whole lot worse, and I try to count my blessings."