Families on the go Magazine > Health and Wellness

Health & Wellness

Weekend Athletes' Eyes Should be Valued as the Pros
By: Dr. Dr. Mark Sibley

During the last baseball season my nurse called out: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are sending a player over. He has an eye injury...

I realize that any injury to a professional athlete could be a career-ending injury. Since clear vision and depth perception are so critical to everyone, especially athletes who play at the elite levels of the Devil Rays and basketball's NCAA Final Four, I realize we must all work together to prevent blindness and restore sight.

Being a team doctor is an exciting position. I deal with healthy patients who want to get better. I am very lucky and fortunate to work with such a motivated and dedicated staff and fellow team doctors. They want and need their players and staff to receive immediate care to prevent blindness and restore sight. They realize that delay in treatment could result in career-ending problems.

Weekend athletes should not treat their eyes with any less urgency or priority. Instead of procrastinating with an injury due to sports, and taking a chance of letting that damage get worse, they should see an eye doctor promptly.

My staff and I were prepared for anything: a bat, ball or cleat injury to the eye. Was it Wade? Fred? Jose? They had all had perfect exams the week before.

The player who walked in minutes later was just a kid, 21, a rookie pitcher. I'll call him Steve.

The accident was not from a baseball injury at all, but had occurred after a baseball game at a victory party, when he was hit in the eye with a water balloon.

I asked myself, "How bad could a water balloon hurt the eye?"

It took me just one minute to realize that in the fraction of a second that it took that balloon to hit his eye, this young man's life just changed forever. There was blood in the eye, cloudiness of the lens, damage to the retina and a dilated pupil -- all severely blurring his vision.

The questions from this boy and his coach came at me like a 95 mph fast ball: Will he see? Can you save the eye? Will he ever pitch again? Will I lose the eye?

I found myself wondering the same questions.

I wish there were a happy ending, but sadly, much of the damage is permanent to Steve's eye. The eye has been saved, and the vision restored, but his symptoms of blurriness and glare and decreased depth perception persist. All of this because of a careless, freak accident. I will keep you posted on his progress, and we all pray for his recovery and hope his dream of playing in the Tropicana as a starting pitcher with the Devil Rays will come true.

Dr. Mark Sibley, M.D., F.A.C.S., is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist and laser specialist who practices locally. He is medical advisor to the Society to Prevent Blindness and to the American Diabetes Association, and is team ophthalmologist for the Devil Rays. For more information call Florida Eye Center at 727-895-2020.Visit www.floridaeyecenter.com for more information.