“You’ll shoot you’re eye out” is a very fitting phrase in this situation, unfortunately.
After being hit by a pellet from a Nerf gun, a nine-year-old boy from South Wales had to have his eye removed.
When he was just three years old, Taylor-Jay Ravicini was hit by a toy arrow which caused him to lose sight in the eye.
The strike from the Nerf pellet damaged the organ beyond repair — so much that doctors had to remove it to be sure he did not lose sight in his other eye as well.
And after complications due to infections, Taylor was then hospitalized for six weeks following the accident.
The incident happened while Taylor was playing with a friend in the house under his mother’s supervision.
Doctors then decided to take out the eye completely and replace it with a false eye.
Stacey, the boy’s mother, is now attempting to fund-raise to help get Taylor a more convincing prosthetic eye that will not distract both children at Taylor’s school as well stranger’s attention.
Stacey shared with the Sun: “I really don’t want people thinking I am a bad mother,”
“I was there with my three children and everything just happened in a flash,”
“What are the chances of an accident happening twice in the same eye?”
“I was downstairs, and I heard a devastating scream and my heart sunk, I couldn’t even go to see him, I sent my partner as I knew something had happened.”
“Taylor’s eye was full of blood and it was causing a build-up of pressure. Doctors told us that he risked losing sight in both eyes if we didn’t remove the damaged one.”
In regards to the first incident, she shared: “The first time it was a freak accident. I was there with my three children and everything just happened in a flash.”
“I didn’t know what to do so I called a taxi to A and E.”
A and E is an emergency department.
“We were told Taylor had a scratch in his eye but the true extent was revealed when specialist doctors in Bristol confirmed he had been blinded.”
Stacey, 35, is attempting to raise the money to help Taylor get a new and improved prosthetic eye after kids at his school bullied him — calling him ‘Popeye.’
She continued saying, “Wherever we go people are staring at him and whispering about his eye. In school he is constantly bullied, and people call him, ‘Popeye’, that really hurts, why should he be treated different?”
“I am constantly worrying for him and what will happen next, it has just been one big emotional roller coaster.”
“I hope people understand how much he needs this prosthetic eye.”
While Nerf guns are considered relatively “safe” along with its ammunition, it is best to be cautious when allowing children to play with them.
And while the foam pellets are designed to not hurt the body, the eyes can be especially vulnerable if hit.
If your child has a Nerf gun, borncute recommends your kiddos should wear protective eye gear, along with teaching children not to shoot at other children in the eyes.
They also encourage children to wear pads on their elbows and knees.
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