A nine-year-old boy almost went blind after an extremely rare side effect of coronavirus caused his eye to swell up.
Zac Morey was admitted to hospital on Christmas Eve and was on an antibiotic drip for two days as doctors battled to save his eye-sight.
The schoolboy’s eye was almost completely forced to shut due to the swelling caused by orbital cellulitis, a skin infection that some scientists have linked to covid.
Zac’s family are keen to warn the public about the side effect but thankfully their son has made a recovery, according to Stoke-on-Trent Live.
His 37-year-old mum Angela, said: “His eye looked like it was going to explode.
“There was no way he could open it without pulling the skin. It was swollen beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”
Zac’s, eye problem started after he tested positive for Covid along with his mum and four siblings on December 16.
The youngster suffered cold-like symptoms and spent his self-isolation period playing computer games at home.
But on December 22 - when he twice tested negative for Covid - he developed pain in his left eye.
Angela, who is a councillor for Bradley Stoke North, said: “I thought it just been on the computer for seven days solid so didn’t think anything of it.
“But by Christmas Eve it was not good at all. We took him to hospital and he was put on an antibiotic drip until Boxing Day.”
“They said if it goes too far into the eye then it can cause blindness.
“The doctors said it was an allergic reaction to the virus that affects children.”
Zac was discharged from hospital on Boxing Day after undergoing an eye test that confirmed his vision had fully recovered.
The World Health Organisation lists red and irritated eyes as an uncommon side effect of Covid-19, while various studies have linked orbital cellulitis and coronavirus.
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