Solar Eclipse Leaves Woman’s Eyes With ‘Blind Spot’

A social-media influencer’s warning to others to protect their eyes while looking at the solar eclipse has gone viral.

In a TikTok post published on Monday, under the username @iambridgeet and viewed more than 5.3 million times, Bridget Kyeremateng urged her followers: “Don’t be like me.” She describes herself as a “global storyteller, strategist and cultural enthusiast” who lives in Brooklyn, New York City,

It was posted on the same day as millions of Americans watched a rare total solar eclipse arch over 13 states from Texas to Maine—a celestial spectacle last occurring in the U.S. in 2017 and unlikely to be seen again over America for another two decades.

The national event prompted numerous warnings from experts and officials about protecting one’s eyes while looking at the eclipse, as staring directly at the sun—even when partially shrouded—can cause permanent eye damage.

“Yes, I did look at the solar eclipse six-and-a-half years ago,” Kyeremateng said in the video. “I didn’t realise or just didn’t get the glasses, and I thought it wasn’t going to be a big deal, and I closed my right eye and I stared at the sun for a good, like, 15 seconds.

“[I] didn’t think anything of it—not an issue. The very next day, I woke up, and I woke up on I think what is my right side and I opened up my left eye to read on my phone, and I couldn’t read every other word… There was like a blind spot on every other word,” Kyeremateng added.

The social-media influencer went on to recount how she then could not see objects around her home, and was unable to see road signs while driving to an optometrist.

After moving to New York a few months later, Kyeremateng “finally learned through just some regular testing at the eye doctor that there is no damage that was done to my cornea… but there was some damage that was done to something… in which certain parts of my eye is distorted.

“So I actually now have slow 20-20 vision,” Kyeremateng said. “I have slow 20-20 vision because I stared at the solar eclipse without glasses for 10 seconds six-and-a-half years ago. So, don’t be like me.”

Experts say that, during a total solar eclipse—when the sun is completely obscured by the moon—there is only a brief window of time when it is safe to look at it without risking eye damage.

“Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks the sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing,” NASA states.

“Viewing any part of the bright sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.”

The space agency has said that sunglasses do not provide anywhere close to enough protection, while eclipse glasses have “thousands of times” more light filtration. However, there have been warnings about counterfeit eclipse glasses that do not provide that protection.

Looking directly at a bright source of light like the sun can cause retinopathy—damage to the part of your eye that absorbs light. This can lead to eye pain, increased light sensitivity and blind spots.

Have you suffered difficulties with your vision since viewing the latest eclipse? If so, please get in touch with Aliss Higham at a.higham@newsweek.com.