Haverhill mum and cricket player tells of ‘endless tears, worry, stress, trauma and hell’ after rare eye infection caused by parasite

A woman who suffered a very rare infection that almost cost her an eye wants people to learn from her ‘awful experience’ and not make the same mistake she did.

Ten days before Christmas, after six months of treatment from the Corneal team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, Megan Davis, of Haverhill, was told she no longer had Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) in her left eye.

A rare and serious eye disease that has affected only around 2,500 people in the UK and 23,000 worldwide, AK is an infection caused by a microscopic organism which is found in soil and water.

Megan’s ordeal began on Friday, May 19, when she was hit in the eye by a cricket ball while attending her first outdoor training session with the Haverhill Cricket Club’s Ladies Team.

Despite the eye stinging a bit, Megan said she ‘thought nothing of it’ and two days later, while in Tesco in Haverhill she considered seeing the pharmacist but, with a queue waiting, decided not to – a decision she deeply regrets.

Six days after suffering the injury, Megan felt she had something in her contact lens and after seeing an optician, was told to go straight to a hospital A & E department.

She ended up seeing the emergency eye casualty team at Clinic 14 at Addenbrooke’s and being sent for a scan at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. The diagnosis was that a parasite had got into her eye, leaving her with AK.

“It sounds horrible, but it was feasting on my eye,” said Megan, who is married to Haverhill CC player Russ Davis (with whom she has a daughter, Noa, three) and whose brother Joe Woodley is the club’s vice-chairman.

The impact of the infection was explained by Megan, an NHS worker: “AK stops you in your tracks and turns your life upside down like you won't believe.

“For three months I used to dread waking up in the mornings facing another day of hell with awful symptoms, loss of vision and pain.

“I had no idea when I would get my normal life back and honestly thought my eye would never heal. The tears were endless, the constant worry and stress and trauma of multiple corneal scrapes was sickening to me.”

At one point she was applying 41 eye drops every day.

She was also visiting Addenbrooke’s three times per week and, after her condition deteriorated in mid-August, she was given an anti-fungal drug.

The new drug was, said Megan a ‘game changer’, and two weeks into the treatment most of her symptoms had cleared up.

She had been taking steroids for the damaged eye since the end of May and finally, last month, she was able to stop using those too.

Megan now wants others to learn from her own experiences, and said: “AK mainly affects contact lenses wearers therefore it is so important to remember to never shower, swim, bathe, or wash the lenses with water if you use them. Hot tubs, splash pads, foam parties...stop and think to yourself I cannot get this water on my contact lenses!!

“Ensure your hands have been thoroughly cleaned and dried before handling your lenses and touching your eyeballs.

“I've never known suffering like it and would not wish AK on anyone. Protect your eyes and if you sustain an injury to the eyes or head, get it checked immediately for god sakes! Biggest regret of my life.”

More information on AK is available HERE .