Teenager’s eye ‘exploded like grape’ in car crash after sun blinded her despite only driving at 10MPH
A teenager who was involved in a car crash at 'less than 10mph' suffered a horrific injury when her eye 'exploded like a grape'.
18-year-old Ohio student Kylie Dean had been driving to her school on 20 September when she got into the crash.
Her mum Kelly, 38, said her daughter had been dazzled by the sun and the car started to 'roll' into the one parked in front of it at a stop sign.
However, since Kylie was sitting close to the steering wheel in the car the low speed crash caused her to hit her head against it, with doctors saying the impact caused her right eye socket to 'shatter' into many pieces and her eye to explode 'like a grape'.
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The 18-year-old also suffered a broken nose, broken teeth and other injuries to her face, with the impact from the crash removing the iris and lens from her right eye as well as tearing her tear duct.
The student's mum said she got an alarm on her phone and rushed over to find her daughter and the car covered in blood.
Kylie was rushed to hospital and went into emergency surgery to have the globe of her eye closed.
She then spent several days recovering in a hospital bed before being discharged on 25 September.
Sadly, she can't see out of her right eye and is waiting on a specialist company to make prosthetic eye parts for her, while she's also awaiting the arrival of dental implants for the damage done to her teeth.
Her family have set up a GoFundMe in the hopes of raising money for the other surgeries that Kylie will need, with her mum writing that she'll need at least two more procedures.
Kelly said: "She is only 18. This is the beginning of her life and she needs to have her teeth. She is a music player and she needs the structure in her mouth.
"We have good insurance but they won't cover dental implants at all as it is classed as a cosmetic surgery and not a necessity. This is going to cost at least $20,000 in dental payments.
"After that she will be able to have the good eye on the left measured. These measurements can then be sent off to a company in Germany who make prosthetic eye parts.
"Her right eye and her muscles would have to learn how to see again and how to use them but there's hope.
"It would mean everything to her to get enough funds to go ahead with the surgery.
"It is everything she is and everything she has worked to become and without it [the plastic surgery], she loses that."
"I just want to give this back to her and her future."
Kylie said that when she first crashed she didn't actually know she'd been injured, explaining: "I'm super shocked that it was this severe of an injury.
"Having the GoFundMe and getting the money for the procedures would allow me to go back to the way I was before the accident.
"I have lost so much because of it. I just want to be able to do everything I was doing again.
"If I don't get the implants and plastic surgery, I won't be able to play instruments again, or go back to acting or be able to drive.
"It's really important for my future and life right now. It's everything I do and will be everything I will do."
You can donate to Kylie's GoFundMe here.
Joe Harker