WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Kaitlyn Humphrey's cornea almost 'melted' off after she decided to use a new lash glue last year - forcing doctors to scoop out her eyeball and replace it with a 'marble'
A mum has sent out a stark warning to make-up wearers across the globe after her eyeball had to be scooped out and replaced with a "marble" when some lash glue got into her eye.
Kaitlyn Humphrey, 26, ran out of her regular branded adhesive whilst applying her makeup on July 4 last year, so opted for a glue she hadn't used before - but a small amount made its way into the corner of her left eye, causing it to become irritated.
Following the directions on the package, the mum-of-two tried to rinse her eye out at home, but had to eventually book a doctor's appointment when the irritation continued. Medics told Kaitlyn she had suffered an allergic reaction and she was sent home with antibiotic eye drops.
Over the next eight months, Kaitlyn visited the hospital multiple times as her symptoms persisted, but was repeatedly dismissed and sent home. She then began to feel "pressure" behind her eye in March 2024, so booked an appointment with a specialist eye doctor. Kaitlyn was once again sent home by the health professional, who told her nothing was wrong.
The accountant from Charleston in Missouri, US, says she woke up "blind" five months later, and was forced to have her left eye removed and replaced with a "marble". The mum is now due to have a lens fitted, and while she won't be able to see from it, it will make her eye look "real" for aesthetic purposes.
Kaitlyn said: "When I initially used the glue a small amount had got into the corner of my eye and it started to burn. It stayed irritated for a few days and I went to a doctor to get my eye flushed out after I tried to do it myself. One day I would be fine and the next day I could wake up and my eye would be swollen and inflamed. It would be bloodshot and itchy and burn.
"Once I started to experience blurred vision and pressure behind my eye I decided to contact an eye doctor. The eye doctor looked at my eye and said they couldn't see any pressure behind my eye and nothing was wrong. The eye doctor did less than the hospital. It made me feel like I was being a hypochondriac.
After seeing a specialist, Kaitlyn claims she continued to battle with impaired vision, which saw her give up her job and struggle to play with her kids. It was only when she claims to have woken up blind in August this year that she pushed for a second doctor's opinion, and was horrified to discover her cornea had nearly "melted" off from the infection.
She then underwent a cornea transplant to try and save her eye and restore her vision but was dealt an even bigger blow when her body rejected the implant. Doctors found a "dime-sized" mass on her optic nerve, so she decided to go ahead with full eye removal surgery.
Kaitlyn said: "The symptoms remained the same [still blurry and pressure]. Sometimes my eyes would be swollen shut and I would be extremely sensitive to light and I wouldn't even be able to look at my phone.
"It felt like when I closed my eye, my eyelid was like sandpaper and this was because my cornea had almost all melted away from the infection. My grandma then took me to another eye doctor.
"As soon as they looked at my eye, they didn't even have to examine it and they told me I needed to see a surgeon the next day. I was dumbfounded. He told me I was in the stages of losing my eye and I couldn't grasp what he was telling me."
During her four-hour eye removal operation, a surgeon wrapped the tissue and muscles from her left eye around a marble to ensure her prosthetic would move like a real eye in the ball socket. Kaitlyn said: "[After my transplant], I had a headache so bad that I couldn't get out of bed and was laying in the dark all day so I went back to the hospital.
"I explained that I had had a cornea transplant and I was airlifted to another hospital. They did a CT and they found a mass the size of a dime [5p coin] growing on my optic nerve. This was from the infection that had been caused by my body rejecting the transplant. At this point, I was so ready for everything to be over.
"They gave me the option to have a full eye transplant but at this point, my body had already rejected one transplant and I was tired of going through the pain. I was fed up so I said I wanted to go ahead with the removal."
Kaitlyn, who had the procedure a month ago, is now urging others to push for professional help if they believe something may be wrong with their health.
She said: "You hear things like this happen but you never think it is going to happen to you. I never thought using a product like this [eye lash glue] would cause this as it's meant to go around your eye.
"I just want to spread more awareness about what I've been through. Those symptoms that you believe to be normal and everyday symptoms can lead to very life-changing and permanent."
