British bride loses her eyesight weeks before wedding due to allergy to false eyelashes

Polly Bibby, a British woman from Cambridgeshire, lost her sight a few weeks before her wedding due to an allergic reaction to false eyelashes, reports Kennedy News and Media.

Polly Bibby decided to get false eyelashes on her wedding day in order to feel like a “princess”. After an initial test, the bride-to-be underwent this cosmetic procedure on July 5 and was pleased with the result. However, a few hours later, she had an allergic reaction.

According to Bibby, 26, her eyes first began to water and hurt, then became sore, sticky and discharge appeared. The worried bride called an ambulance and was advised to go to the hospital. As a result of tests at Hinchingbrook Hospital, it was confirmed that the patient had an allergic reaction to the eyelash extensions. Bibby was prescribed antibiotics and antihistamines, and after the swelling subsided, she was advised to remove her false eyelashes.

In addition to her terrible appearance, Bibby also experienced severe pain in her eyes. “My eyes would sting and burn, and eventually I would lose my vision and not be able to see anything at all,” she recalls. “Every time I would close my eyes, my eyelids would stick together because of the discharge that had collected in my eyes.”

Removing her false eyelashes didn’t solve the problem right away. Bibby described it as “like someone threw acid in my face.”

Bibby shared her experience to warn other brides against undergoing new procedures just before their wedding. The bride, who married Benjamin May on July 27, says, “When people joke about how bad things are going to get on my wedding day, I never imagined it would happen to me. The pain is not worth it. If I had known, I would have just used the dream.”

According to Medical News Today, eyelash extensions can cause allergic reactions in the eyelids and eyes. The allergic reaction occurs within minutes of the procedure and is usually caused by an allergy to the glue used to attach the false eyelashes.