A woman has shared her journey after losing her eye in a freak accident while walking her dog.
Daniella Abreu, 24, suffered the horrific injury when taking her husky Blu out around Stuart on the east coast of Florida.
Before leaving her house, Daniella noticed that the dog lead she usually used was frayed and decided to grab an old retractable one instead.
However, Blu saw a rabbit while they were out and dashed towards it.
Daniella tried to hold him back but the lead snapped and hit her in the eye.
Danielle said: ‘There was so much blood. I thought I completely lost my eye, so my fight-or-flight mode kicked in and I was able to run home. I ran inside screaming.
‘My mom got to me first and I just fell into her arms and got really pale. My dad’s face was so frightened and terrified.
‘I was losing a lot of blood and I eventually passed out. All the shock going through my body just overpowered the feeling.’
The accident, which unfolded in August 2023, had split open her eyelid and she had suffered a fracture under her eye and split open her retina.
Daniella was taken to hospital by ambulance. Doctors stitched her eye back together before she was told she required emergency surgery.
But Daniella was given the life-changing news that she was permanently blind in her right eye.
She underwent four more surgeries before her eye was ultimately removed due to the severity of the damage.
‘Even to this day, I still don’t believe it’s true,’ she said.
‘I had to put my entire life on pause. I went from being a super active girl – on a competitive dance team, working out on the side, a full-time job – and I basically had to take a year off life.
Daniella was bedbound for months after the injury suffering with severe migraines, PTSD and anxiety because of the injury.
She was fitted with a prosthetic eye in June of this year at her most recent surgery.
‘I don’t like the movement of my prosthetic,’ she said.
‘I still wear a lot of sunglasses everywhere I go because I’m embarrassed by how it looks.’
As she tries to adapt to her new life, Daniella has been sharing her journey on TikTok where she has more than 125,000 followers. She uses her platform to connect with others who have similar issues.
‘I’ve had a lot of people reach out and it made me realise that there’s a whole community of people who have one eye,’ Daniella said.
‘It made me feel good to talk about it and spread awareness.’
Daniella’s neighbours of 15 years have created a GoFundMe page to help her with her recovery in the hope that new medical technology could help the medical assistant regain her vision.
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