He had the corona-iris.
A 9-year-old UK boy named Zac Morey shocked his mother when he contracted “COVID-eye,” an alleged side effect of the coronavirus.
“His eye looked like it was going to explode,” the boy’s mom, Angela, told SWNS of the unfortunate COVID complication.
Nine-year-old Zac Morey almost went blind after contracting “COVID-eye” (right), an alleged side effect of the coronavirus.
The ocular calamity reportedly began after the Bristol, England, native and her five children tested positive for the disease on Dec. 16. Her son Zac reportedly experienced flu-like symptoms and spent his quarantine at home playing computer games.
Despite testing negative at the doctor’s office on Dec. 22, the fifth-grader reportedly developed pain in his left eye. Initially thinking it was caused by his constant screen time, Angela realized something was awry after the peeper ballooned up to alarming proportions over the next few days.
Zac suffered from orbital cellulitis, an inflammatory ailment that’s been linked to the coronavirus. Angela Morey / SWNS“It was swollen beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” said Zac’s aghast parent. “There was no way he could open it without pulling the skin.”
Angela drove her suffering child to the hospital on Christmas Eve, whereupon doctors diagnosed him with orbital cellulitis, an infection in the eye area that some scientists have linked to COVID. However, it’s “indeterminate that COVID-19 is coincidental or a predisposing factor to this presentation,” according to an April 2021 case study.
Zac was forced to spend Christmas Day in the hospital. Angela Morey / SWNS“The doctors said it was an allergic reaction to the virus that affects children,” said Zac’s distraught mother. She was particularly concerned as doctors said the disease could cause blindness if it ventured too deep into the eye.
Hoping to prevent the worst, physicians administered the patient antibiotics via an IV drip over the next few days.
Thankfully, Zac recovered his sight after a course of antibiotics and was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 26, 2021. Angela Morey / SWNSThankfully the remedy appeared to do the trick as a subsequent eye test confirmed that Zac’s vision had been fully restored, and he was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 26.
A fully recovered Zac Morey with his mom, Angela Morey. Angela Morey / SWNSThis isn’t the first time an eye ailment has been linked to the coronavirus. In an alarming study from February, French scientists documented so-called nodules in the eyes of patients battling severe COVID-19.
Scientists hypothesized that these orbital protuberances were caused by virus-related inflammation and doctors are positioning patients face-down to improve oxygenation.
