Mother's laser pen warning

Her 10-year-old son was referred by his optician to see a consultant at the Princess Royal Hospital in Lewes Road, Haywards Heath, because she had noticed scarring of the macula area in his right eye.

He was diagnosed with a macular burn, which was caused by ‘careless play with a laser pen’, said the mother, who asked not to be named to protect the identity of her son.

She said: “We regretably bought this for him last Christmas. Luckily, although there is some scarring, he still has excellent near vision and the consultant does not think that his career prospects will be limited in any way and his vision will not deteriorate in the future.

“As his parents we have been distressed by this experience and we are concerned that this kind of eye damage is easily done and is on the increase, especially with young boys and we would like to send out a warning to other parents to strongly urge them to either dispose of laser pens or carefully supervise.”

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