A lot of cosplayers use coloured contact lenses to help them match the appearance of their favourite characters, but that use has a downside: when something goes wrong, it’s going wrong somewhere that’s both sensitive and pretty darn important for the cosplayer.
As Houston Press reports, cosplayer Johnny Hybrid is now painfully aware of this. While getting ready to go to the Space City Con over the weekend, Johnny washed his hands, picked up a bottle of saline, cleaned his $US300 ($415) red contact lenses (he was wearing the same Gambit costume as pictured above) and dropped them in.
Photo by Kenneth Cooper
Problem is, his girlfriend and cosplay partner Yami had been using hairspray around the same counter that the bottle of saline had been sitting on. With his hands wet from washing, when Johnny picked up the saline bottle, he got some hairspray on his hands, and thus also his eyes.
“So I pretty much put in lenses full of hairspray, which burned the crap out of my eye, like, holy hell did it hurt.” Johnny told Houston Press. “So out of sheer desperation, I pinched out the contact lens, taking a chunk out my eye with it.”
Racing to a nearby MedSpring urgent care location, Johnny was told that “he may lose his eye” as a result of the injury. He’s going to an actual optometrist later this week with hopes of better news.
Just in case, though, he says he already has plans for incorporating a leather eye patch into future cosplay.
Comments
31 responses to “Cosplayer Could Lose An Eye After Contact Lens Mishap”
Wait, what?! He’s going to see an optometrist later in the week? Who saw him at this urgent care location? Was it an Ophthalmologist? What the hell is an urgent care location, and why would you choose that turn of phrase unless you explicitly weren’t a hospital?!
The US is a whacky place to do yourself a mischief.
I believe he made the mistake of seeing an Ornithologist first
Well, that is a good way to lose an eye
From what I can see Urgent care is a department in the hospital at lower level than ER.
If your life isn’t in danger you can go the the urgent care location which is normal part of the major hospital.
What you’d call Outpatients here.
Haven’t you already gone through the hospital system before you get to outpatients or at least been referred through and have an appointment?
This is still a rock up and say help and get triage and seen based on criticalness.
Not any of the times I’ve been there. Outpatients is very much a walk in and say “Help, I’ve sawed half way through my finger because I shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen”, then wait around until someone comes out with a needle and thread.
Interesting, that is exactly the opposite of my experience.
I’ve only ever done Emergency for what you have described, all outpatient visits for me have been booked weeks in advance either as a referral from on place to them or as follow up after being in hospital.
Hm. It’s possible that I may have been misusing the name “outpatients”.
Within most health systems in Australia hospitals have a single point of access that being the emergency department. I won’t go into why this is a problem, but will confirm that outpatient departments are as described above, either for follow up after an admission to hospital or after direct referral from another medical professional to that department.
Next years cosplay…. Original Nick Fury
I was gunna say Cyclops :p
Or Big Boss.
MedSpring Urgent Care Location sounds like something you’d find in Deus Ex, like a branded public version of Half Life’s medical stations.
Also, OUCH, it’s crazy how one little slight of mind can cause something so consequential like the loss of a freakin’ EYE
Hope he recovers well!
I have a thing about not touching eyes, so I’d wouldn’t wear contacts during regular life let alone at conventions.
Oh god I did not need to read that “pinch” line. All kinds of wince, cringe and flinch. Eugh.
I’ve worn contact lenses since I was twelve and I still can’t bring myself to ‘pinch’ them out
I consider myself fairly indifferent to most gross kind of things, but apparently eye stuff seems to get to me. Watching my sister stand there at the mirror trying to get her contacts out, hearing this *click click click* come as she tries to catch the edge of it with her nail… *shudders* Sounds like that shouldn’t come from anywhere near an eye.
Cant she use those little suction tube thingies? The name escapes me, but I need to use them all the time to remove my contact lens. Although i have to wear the hard contact lens ones, so might not apply here.
Must be a bit like scooping icecream…
LALALALALALALALA NOT LISTENING
This is up there on the gross-ness scale with that time @markserrels described what the climbing term “de-gloving” meant.
…my other most-hated injury description.
Officially worst article ever.
I’m a nursing student… I did a placement at a fairly trauma based ED.
By far the worst thing I saw was observing a scrotal debridement.
Don’t……don’t make me Google that.
WOW what an opportunity for a wicked Mad Eye Moody Cosplay.
Cosplay, its a dangerous lifestyle
Contact lenses. Not even once.
Let me just interrupt that response you’re planning to write.
No. Never.
I very rarely use my contact lenses just because I’m lazy, but I’m amazed at how care-free some people use them. I was on the train the other morning and the university-aged kid next to me got his contact lenses case out and put them in without washing his hands or anything. My eye started hurting just at the thought of all the germssssss aaaarrrrghhhhhh.
Jeez. Talk about looking(/squinting) on the bright side. That stiff upper lip… I’d be devastated if I had to lose an eye. (If only because my eyes are basically my best feature.)
Real shame, too… from the pics, those contacts looked super effective.
Those were actually his hairspray-irritated eyes.