(Image source from: Metro)

If you using contact lenses for a very long time and even taking shower with lenses on, then it is the time to stop it immediately as it has cost one person his eyesight.

Nick Humphreys, a football player from Shrewsbury, Shropshire has lost his eyesight of one eye due to a parasitic infection, after he wore lenses while taking a shower. A parasite burrowed into his eyeball causing Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) which has caused a loss of his vision. He will now have to get a corneal transplant to be able to see again.

The 29-year-old Nick was wearing glasses since the age of four. But because he plays football he decided to switch to contact lenses in the year 2013. He wanted to improve his eyesight while playing as glasses were a hindrance in his fitness regime and play. However, he wore them not continuously but 5 days a week. Once when he was having a quick shower in the gym, he did not pop out the lenses.

"I thought nothing of it at the time. I was never told not to wear contact lenses in the shower, there's no warning on the packaging and my opticians never mentioned a risk," he told to Mirror UK.

Amateur footballer left blind from a parasite after he showered with contact lenses in : Nick Humphreys, of Shropshire, noticed a scratch on his right eye in January 2018. By March, he had gone blind caused by Acanthamoeba keratitis, a parasitical… https://t.co/DlOmbwmwxX pic.twitter.com/ylEqK4Bgqu

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But in January 2018, he noticed a scratch on his right eye. He could not see clearly and thought it must've been because he scratched his eye with the lenses on. When things did not get better after putting eye drops, he headed to an optician. He was diagnosed with an eye ulcer. He had tests done and it was revealed he had a rare parasitical infection Acanthamoeba keratitis. On reading more on it, he realized that his eye may have to be removed.

Two months later, he could not see at all with his right eye. Humphreys spent sleepless nights and was depressed with the condition. "The pain in my eye was too much and the only time I would leave was to visit the hospital. I felt at my absolute lowest and the one thing that would cheer me up - playing football - was no longer an option," he said in the report.

Although he underwent a corneal operation, he remained blind. He had to undergo a second operation in Christmas 2018 which was a success. But he yet has to undergo a corneal transplant which will replace his damaged cornea. Nick Humphreys has sworn never to use contact lenses again.

By Sowmya Sangam