Amoeba Causes Lifeguard Blindness

In June 2024, while teaching swimming lessons in a private pool on Long Island, New York, lifeguard Maureen Cronin submerged her head underwater with contact lenses in-an error that exposed her eye to the amoeba Acanthamoeba, which thrives in untreated water and contaminated pools. Despite hospitalization and a cornea transplant attempt later that year, her right eye was irreparably damaged by Acanthamoeba keratitis, leaving her blind in that eye and prompting her to now raise awareness about the infection risks of wearing contacts in water.

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