A teen’s eye ‘exploded like a grape’ in a car crash when the sun blocked her vision just feet from her school.
High schooler Kylie Dean was driving to a marching band performance in September, but her mom, Kelly Dean, said Kylie was ‘dazzled’ by the sun, causing her to gently ‘roll’ into the car in front of her at a stop sign.
While the crash was at a low speed – under 10mph – and the impact was light, Kylie was seated very close to the steering wheel because of her small stature – barely 5ft tall.
This caused her to hit her head on the steering wheel, which ‘shattered’ her right eye socket into pieces.
Doctors said her eye exploded ‘like a grape thrown at the wall.’
Kylie Dean was taken to the hospital following her crash, which ‘shattered’ her right eye socket
The teen arrived at the hospital covered in blood with a bruised right eye
The collision caused the 18-year-old to suffer damage to her iris – the colored part of the eye – and rip her tear duct.
Kyle also had a broken nose, broken teeth and facial wounds.
Kelly said she was alerted to her daughter’s crash by an alarm on her phone and immediately rushed to the scene.
When she found her daughter, the mom-of-four said both she and the white Chevrolet Trax she was driving were covered in blood and she feared her daughter would die.
Kelly said: ‘She had just left the house and was just down the street. Where we live it is on top of a valley so you have to go through the valley to get to school. There’s not a lot blocking the sun and she was blinded by it.
‘She was stopped at a stop light and there were cars in front and behind her. She got a bit disorientated because of the sun and thought the lights had turned green and rolled into the car in front. She was barely going at 10mph.
‘It was such a low speed so there was minimal damage to the car. It was a fender bender. She had her seatbelt on but because she is only five feet tall, she sits very close to the wheel.
‘Even though the crash was such a low speed, the impact when her head went forward, her right eye socket almost aligned perfectly with the steering wheel. It was a freak accident.’
Kelly added: ‘[When I approached the scene], she was covered in blood. Her face was covered, her arms, pants and it was inside the car.
‘At that moment, I one hundred percent thought she was going to die. Even though I know she’s fine now, when I close my eyes, when I close my eyes, I still see her covered in blood.’
Kylie was rushed to Akron General Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio via an ambulance and quickly underwent an emergency surgery to have her eye closed.
Despite Kylie being discharged from the hospital five days later, she was still unable to see out of her right eye.
The soon-to-be college student will need to have prosthetic eye parts made by a specialist company in Germany and have dental implants fitted to get her sight and smile back.
Kelly has now set up a GoFundMe page to help raise the estimated $30,000 needed for Kylie’s plastic surgery. She said not all of the procedures are covered by their insurance as some, such as dental implants, are classed as cosmetic.
Because the crash was at such a low speed, there wasn’t a lot of damage done to Kylie’s car
Kylie was rushed to Akron General Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio and underwent an emergency surgery to have her eye closed
Before undergoing surgery, Kylie had an MRI and ultrasound where doctors confirmed her right eye had ‘ruptured.’
They said her injuries were ‘one in a million’ due to the low impact of the crash and suspected her facial trauma was caused by her hitting the steering wheel.
Kelly said: ‘They said all the bones in her orbital socket [in her right eye] were shattered.
‘[The doctor] couldn’t even tell me the number of breaks. It was completely shattered. Her nose was broken and she had a gash down her face from the inner corner of her eye.
‘They said it was a one in a million freak rare accident.
‘In surgery, the eye doctor said her eye was like if you took a grape and threw it against a wall, it was almost like it imploded.’
After her operation, Kylie spent five days in hospital in ‘excruciating’ pain and will have to undergo two more surgeries to check her eye is healing correctly.
Kylie also had injuries to her cheek and teeth and will need to have dental implants
Kylie is still unable to see out of her right eye, but doctors did not see any evidence the retina – the part of the eye that sends vision signals to the brain – had been torn.
If this is still attached, doctors may be able to restore her vision, but her mom said the teen will have to have prosthetics implanted because the iris and the lens are ‘gone.’
A prosthetic iris is an artificial substitute surgically implanted to replace a damaged or missing iris. And a prosthetic lens is meant to color or mask an eye that has been damaged or disfigured.
Kelly said getting Kylie the money to go ahead with the plastic surgery would mean ‘everything’ to her daughter and give her a brighter future.
She said: ‘She is only 18. This is the beginning of her life and she needs to have her teeth. She is a music player and she needs the structure in her mouth.
‘We have good insurance but they won’t cover dental implants at all as it is classed as a cosmetic surgery and not a necessity. This is going to cost at least $20,000 in dental payments.
‘After that she will be able to have the good eye on the left measured. These measurements can then be sent off to a company in Germany who make prosthetic eye parts.
‘Her right eye and her muscles would have to learn how to see again and how to use them but there’s hope.’
Kylie will have to undergo two more surgeries to check her eye is healing correctly and have prosthetic eye parts implanted
The teen is hoping to raise funds to undergo dental implants so she can continue to play music
The teen’s mom added: ‘It would mean everything to her to get enough funds to go ahead with the surgery.
‘[Music] is everything she is and everything she has worked to become and without [the plastic surgery], she loses that.’
‘I just want to give this back to her and her future.’
Kylie had only passed her driving test a month-and-a-half before the collision happened and it has significantly disrupted her senior year.
The avid musician said she never thought she would suffer such traumatic injuries from the low impact crash and raising the funds for surgery would help her get her life back.
Kylie said: ‘When I first crashed, I didn’t even know I was injured. I’m super shocked that it was this severe of an injury.
‘Having the GoFundMe and getting the money for the procedures would allow me to go back to the way I was before the accident.
‘I have lost so much because of it. I just want to be able to do everything I was doing again.’
Kylie added: ‘If I don’t get the implants and plastic surgery, I won’t be able to play instruments again, or go back to acting or be able to drive.
‘It’s really important for my future and life right now. It’s everything I do and will be everything I will do.’
