Sunday, April 27, 2025
Maureen Cronin, a 53-year-old lifelong swimmer and author from Rockville Centre, woke up one day feeling as if a piece of sand was stuck in her eye, but the discomfort quickly intensified. After seeking medical attention, she learned that she had contracted a rare parasitic eye infection, which caused temporary vision loss in her right eye—all due to a common mistake with contact lenses.
In June 2024, Cronin began teaching private swimming lessons to a group of children, all while wearing her contact lenses. However, just a month later, she started feeling excruciating pain in her right eye, describing the sensation as if “a piece of sand” was stuck in her eye. She trained about seven kids before noticing that her right eye was irritating her. Within two weeks, Cronin decided to see an eye doctor for an evaluation.
The doctor initially misdiagnosed her with a corneal scratch and prescribed medication. As the pain worsened, Cronin returned to the eye doctor, who continued to prescribe additional medications.
“They increased the eye drops to every hour and during the night as well,” Cronin told the Herald. “So I would have to set my alarm and wake up every hour and put the eye drops in–which are essentially the same ingredients in pool cleaner so it stung, it hurt. I would cry and basically got no sleep”
Unfortunately, she would later discover that the misdiagnosis allowed the parasites to reproduce on the cornea.
“They had got caught between the cornea and the contact lens and had attached themselves to the cornea,” Cronin said, “and were reproducing at a rate that the anti-parasitic drops could not successfully kill them.”
It wasn’t until a month later, when Cronin shared the intensity of her pain with her doctor, that she was hospitalized and properly diagnosed with a parasitic eye infection called acanthamoeba keratitis.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, acanthamoeba keratitis is a rare eye infection caused by an amoeba found in water, soil and dust, affecting the cornea. While anyone can get it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes it’s more common in contact lens wearers, especially when wearing lenses while swimming, showering, or using hot tubs. These activities can trap the amoeba between the lens and cornea, leading to infection and potentially permanent vision loss. Poor hygiene or improper lens use increases the risk, though infections can still occur with proper care.
Cronin spent 48 long days in the hospital, but the infection persisted. In September 2024, she underwent a cornea transplant, a procedure where the damaged part of the cornea is replaced with a healthy donor cornea, carefully stitched in place. Unfortunately, Cronin’s eye rejected the transplant.
“In 48 days, all they were able to do was to manage my pain,” Cronin said. “So unfortunately, subsequently, the cornea transplant that I received was rejected, and I had infections in my eyes since then, herpes infection and blisters on my eye and it’s sore most of the time.”
Currently, Cronin is temporarily blind in her right eye and awaiting a second cornea transplant in March to restore some of her vision. She’s applying four different eyedrops, five times a day.
“I’m a lifelong swimmer in public pools my whole life, with contacts and never had a problem until the summer when I was giving private swim lessons to kids in the owner’s backyard pools,” Cronin said.
Cronin remarked that the cleaning of private pools is crucial to prevent these kinds of life-changing situations.
“I would like to spread awareness to private pool owners who may not be aware of keeping their pools bacteria-free,” Cronin said. “Because public pools are held to a public health standard and I’ve never had a problem in a public pool.”
According to the CDC, The most effective way to eliminate germs is by maintaining the proper levels of free chlorine and pH. Pool and hot tub owners should regularly test and adjust both the chlorine concentration and pH to ensure water remains safe and clean.
