People might take it as a good thing – or at least, not a horribly bad one – if they’re told they have stars in their eyes.
If those stars are actual cataracts, though, it’s a whole other story.
And that’s exactly what happened to this 42yo man after he experienced a nasty electric shock.
He was working as an electrician when his shoulder was slammed with 14,000 volts. He survived, but ended up with star-shaped cataracts for his trouble.
Normally, cataract surgery would have restored his eyesight, but the damage to his optic nerve and retina resulted in permanent blindness.
Cataracts are cloudiness that accumulates in the lens of the eye, causing the lens to lose its ability to focus light onto the back of the eye on the retina. This decreases vision, but it can be treated with surgery.
The star-shape caused by this man’s injury is known as a stellate cataract, which have white fractal patterns that serve as a boundary.
Trauma can also produce other shapes in cataracts, like rosettes. It happens when the eye has been penetrated or experiences blunt-force trauma. It can also happen with an indirect injury, like the concussion this man received from his shock.
It’s wild how many things can go haywire after a bump on the head.
I hope this man is recovering and adjusting well.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?