Kevin Connor says he learned the hard way to always wear safety goggles when gardening.
About a month ago, he was trimming the leaves off a yucca plant when....
"I pulled the plant towards my face and then had one of the tips actually go right into the cornea of my right eye, right under the pupil," he said.
Within seconds, his vision went blurry so his girlfriend rushed him to Wills Eye Institute.
Dr. Colleen Halfpenny says they see a spike in the number of eye injuries when the weather gets warm.
Some are due to sports injuries while others, like Kevin's, are blamed on outside work.
She says, in Kevin's case, he punctured the cornea - or clear - part of the eye, which can cause an infection and lead to more problems.
"Potentially it can lead to severe visual loss, even blindness in severe infections," said Dr. Halfpenny.
Thankfully Kevin was treated early and monitored over several days. Eventually, his vision cleared.
Dr. Halfpenny says most eye injuries can be prevented with good eye protection.
She says even if you wear regular glasses, safety glasses are better because they won't break and will protect all around the entire eye.
Kevin says, even if you think they look silly, they're worth it.
"If I would have had safety goggles it would have saved me a bunch of hours from Wills Eye!" said Kevin.
Dr. Halfpenny says safety glasses cost just about five dollars - a small amount to spend to save your vision.
