Michigan teen left partially blind after using ‘zombie’ contact lenses

Before complementing the perfect Halloween costume with colored contact lenses, think about how dangerous putting foreign objects in your eyes can be.

Michigan teenager Leah Carpenter learned the hard way after unprescribed lenses left her partially blind in her right eye.

The 17-year-old reportedly bought "WickedEyez" zombie-themed contacts a few weeks ago and wore them at a school function last month. She only had them on about four hours before her vision became blurred. The next morning, Carpenter woke up with a swollen right eye.

"It was just for show. That was our theme for the day," she told the Detroit Free Press. "I wasn't thinking anything would go wrong."

The pair of $26 lenses led to a scratched cornea, missed school activities, an emergency room visit, a trip to the Beaumont Eye Institute, and diagnosed blindness in Carpenter's right eye. At first, she could only see shadows, but Carpenter has since gained some of her vision back. Neither doctors nor her mother know if the teenager's eyesight will ever fully recover.

"It's unbelievable to watch her suffer and the pain that she was in and there's no way to help her," Carpenter's mother said. Carpenter was only 16 when she bought hers from a Body Jewelry and More store in Mount Clemens, Mich., prompting her mother to contact an attorney. No litigation has been filed thus far.

Numerous retailers sell over-the-counter contact lenses, but federal officials consider them medical devices, meaning that the purchaser must be 18 years of age and must have a valid prescription. If you risk wearing decorative lenses, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a few suggestion that may avoid long-term eye problems.

Aside from getting an eye exam and an accompanying prescription, they recommend buying contacts from FDA-approved companies. Even then, it is important to keep them clean and moist as to avoid any infections.

"I have never seen an eye exam or witnessed a contact lens training session conducted at a flea market or gas station,'' Dr. Judson Briggs told the Augusta Chronicle. "You only get one set of eyes, so don't put them at risk by using contact lenses sold or purchased illegally."