The Day our 6yo Vai got Hit by a Tennis Ball … In the Eye!
Yes, you read it right.
The other day, a tennis ball – at FULL SPEED – hit him in the eye. His right eye.
And since this is something that may possibly happen to anyone (including kids), I thought I should share the experience and how it all turned out for him.
This was what happened.
…
… the ball BOUNCED OFF … towards Vai, and … WHAMMM!
It was around 7.45am when Vai sat on the tennis court’s umpire seat (yes, the ‘high chair’ near the net) to watch Daddy play tennis.
His head turned from left to right, following the movement of the ball. Just like how anyone watching a tennis game would.
Then Daddy served a ball, hard, and apparently the opponent attempting to get the ball, only managed to touch the ball with his racket’s frame, and the ball BOUNCED OFF … towards Vai, and … WHAMMM!
The boy held his right eye with both hands and started crying.
LOUDLY!
He couldn’t open his eyes.
He cried a painful cry and within a minute, while still crying I let him hold a cold drink bottle over his eye (as a quick treatment to reduce the inflammation)
[Taken some 5 hours after the incident]
We went back home and within 15 mins after the incident, Vai slept for a good 4 hours!
That was unusual,I thought. Could the sleepiness be triggered by the tennis ball incident?
I then googled around, did a quick search and found out that after an eye is hit by an object, the following could happen:
– Blurred vision
– A lot of pain when you move the eye around
– A black eye
And the scarier ones:
– Blood in the white part of the eye
– Partially detached retina
Yikes!
…
“… he appears to have a ‘lazy eye‘ and would need to wear glasses later.”
After he woke up from his 4 hour sleep, he could open his eyes without feeling much discomfort, but only some 15 mins or so later.
I checked on his vision from time to time (by letting him cover one eye at a time and read out some distant alphabets), and guess what?
Seven hours after the incident, and Vai’s vision was still blurred!
He could see fine with his good, left eye. But not with his right eye.
It’s out of focus and he couldn’t see the alphabets well, he said.
So, we went to see an eye doctor at a hospital after that.
After the doctor did some eye tests and checks, she said :
‘Your son’s eyes are okay. No internal injuries and the retina is fine. The blurred vision could not have been caused by the tennis ball. His astigmatism level is 1.5 on that eye. He appears to have a ‘lazy eye‘ and would need to wear glasses later. Why don’t you wait till the eye inflammation is gone and return to me for an eye check?’
Now, THAT’s new!
Thoughts crossed my mind.
Vai never had any vision problems all this while.
Or perhaps he did, but we never knew nor detected it?
And really? Vai needs to wear glasses real soon, like me? The first among three kids to wear them?
Anyway, he was prescribed an eye drop and I thought we should just monitor his progress over the next few days.
…
Then three days after the incident, … guess what?
His vision was all good again.
BOTH eyes!
I kept on regularly checking them out, letting him read words from a far, asking him if the sharpness of the alphabet is the same for both eyes, etc.
And he said, YEP, it’s sharp again, Mommy!
He could read and see things – clear and sharp! – using the injured eye.
Ah. Thank God it’s all good and alright!
(And. thank God for eye sockets and eyelids too! What an amazing creation HE’s made to protect our fragile body parts!)
[Three days after the incident : Still can see some redness, but the vision is no longer blurry! Yay!]
…
And how about the eye doctor and her ‘diagnosis’?
Well. We never returned.
…
TIPS:
– Applying cold compresses after an injury helps because: the cooling sensation of the cold compress will help reduce inflammation in injured areas and lessen the time required for healing.
– Here’s a good link on WebMD to check on your eye injury type, and what to do next!
…
And oh, I thought I also should say:
Our response greatly affects the child’s reaction to the incident.
For us, we choose to remain cool about it, from the very moment it happened (because it’s an injury that could happen to anyone who plays sport, yes?)
We didn’t blame him or anyone for the injury, we never scared him about going to the tennis court or playing tennis again (eg. Saying things like: ‘Be careful!! Or you’ll get him in the eye again!!’)
And, it’s nice to see how right after the incident, he continues playing tennis with no fear of getting hit in the eye again or anything.
Way to go, little guy, I say!
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Hi! just wanted to shared that I was hit full speed by a tennis ball when I was 17 too. Went to hospital and discovered that my retina had cracked! yikes. went back for a few follow up. Doc say can’t do anything much except to monitor and let it heal by itself.
Guess what happen after it recover? I regain perfect eyesight! previously I was required to wear glasses! low degree though. but was amazing that I don’t require anymore after the incident. for my BOTH eyes! 🙂
Thank God for his healing power!
Oh my, … who would’ve guessed that THAT would happen after such a shock to the eye! Yes, Thank God for that! Thanks for sharing!
Glad he’s ok! Pains our hearts to see them get hurt..!
Geraldine recently posted..Baby 1 Mama 0
Thanks Geraldine …
sorry to hear about the incident…
btw mau sharing about astigmatism. soalnya andrew juga ada. 2.0 kalo gak salah. both eyes. dan dia started pake kacamata when he was about 4 y.o.
jadi awalnya tanda2nya adalah kalo lagi nonton TV, dia suka memicingkan mata (matanya dikecilin), atau kepalanya rada mendongak. selain itu juga sering kedip2.
jadi ternyata itu caranya dia untuk nyari fokus, karena kalo astigmatism kan bentuk retinanya beda.
well, gak ada salahnya cari second opinion untuk matanya vai. moga2 sih gak perlu pake kacamata ya. tapi kalo emang perlu, it’s better kalo pake as early as possible…
arman recently posted..Pumpkin Patch
Hello Arman,
Thanks for sharing yah … Iya, setuju banget kalo misalnya mmg perlu pakai kacamata, the earlier the better, biar ga tambah parah yah …
Sempat dengar tentang habit micingin mata dan kedip2 itu kalau mmg astig … Vai selama ini ga ada habit sama sekali (dari apa yang aku liat sih yah).
So far aku jg double check lagi vision dia …. it’s all back to normal and it’s all sharp again … phew!
(yg astig malah maminya sebenernya hehe…)
Phew. What a relief that Vai’s eye is fine. I was holding my breath towards the middle of the post. That’s very brave of him to have no fear of heading back into the courts!
Elaine recently posted..Taking photos of toddlers
Yes yes … when it comes to our eyes and eyeballs … it’s kinda scary …
(I’m rather paranoid when it comes to satay sticks in kids’ hands … I never let them walk around holding them … )
OUCH!!! Poor boy! He’s got a sweet smile!
NerdyMum recently posted..Small Talk: Boing
Thanks NerdyMum … I guess the worse part was after his nap, he couldn’t open that eye … even the eyelid was swollen … Glad that it’s all okay and back to normal =)
Thank God V’s eye is ok now! Good to know that this accident did not deter him from playing tennis again :))
Thanks Dee! So far he’s okay , and just the other day he was running around the court again, happily being Daddy’s ball boy =)
So glad all turns up ok, Vai’s panda eyes would shock a lot of parents.
SengkangBabies recently posted..Discovery Kids now on Singtel Mio TV ch 458
Hi Andy, … thanks! =)
(hope other parents don’t think it’s due to ‘domestic violence’ =D )
Oh my! What a drama! Seeing our children’s injury is so painful for us parents. Thank God Vai’s eye is alright in the end
Serenely recently posted..A father who shows his love
Funny how we parents generally go through some sort of a drama with our kids … different kinds, but similar adrenaline pumping events =)