A young woman set out on what she believed to be a peaceful walk with her dog last year, but she ended up losing an eye. And now, she’s spreading awareness about the dangers of retractable leashes.
24-year-old Daniella Abreu opened up about the devastating incident in conversation with People on Wednesday. Her whole life changed in August 2023 when she took her Husky Blu out for a walk with a retractable dog leash. But things quickly went south when Blu spotted a rabbit and took off after it. Daniella recalled:
“As he was running one way and I was pulling the opposite way, the friction of the leash just snapped back and repelled, hitting me right in my eye. It happened so fast but I knew it was bad immediately. The force of the leash was so traumatic.”
Oh, goodness… That sounds so unbelievably painful. The force of that snap back must have been SO hard.
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The young woman went on:
“There was so much blood. I thought I completely lost my eye, so my flight or fight mode kicked in and I was able to run home. I ran inside screaming. My mom got to me first and I just fell into her arms and got really pale. My dad, oh my goodness, his face was so frightened and terrified. Even though it may not have been a life or death situation, at that moment I obviously didn’t know. I knew it was a pretty severe situation though. I was losing a lot of blood and eventually I just passed out. All the shock going through my body just overpowered the feeling.”
That’s so terrifying.
Her parents rushed her to an emergency room in Fort Pierce, Florida, where doctors found that she had sustained a fracture under her right eye. Even worse, her eyelid was split open and her retina was detached. OMG!!! Daniella said that her face looked “caved in.” Holy s**t…
After docs stitched her up, she said the pain was a “10 out of 10.” However, the debacle was still far from over. She had to be transferred to a hospital in Miami for emergency surgery, too. Going into it, Daniella prepared herself for the “worst” scenario. And indeed, when she woke up, she was informed that she was permanently blind in her right eye. Even worse, she’d need additional surgeries to help heal her face. And eventually, doctors had to remove the eye completely because the damage was so bad.
@daniabreu99 And yet another surgery done and over with???? Healing isnt linear, comes in waves. Trust God, trust the process✨ #fyp #surgery #eyeloss #prostheticeye #prosthetic #healing #happy
That must have been SO devastating, especially for such a young individual. So sad. It’s been a rough year of recovery, but she had her final surgery in June, and then she received a false eye in August. She told the outlet:
“Even to this day, I still don’t believe it’s true. I had to put my entire life on pause. I went from being a super active girl — on a competitive dance team, working out on the side, a full-time job — and I basically had to take a year off of life … I’m doing alright but I still feel very insecure about a lot of things. I don’t like the movement of my prosthetic, the range of motion is very limited. I still wear a lot of sunglasses everywhere I go because I’m so embarrassed by how it looks.”
@daniabreu99 Today marks a year that my life changed forever. I still think about how in one literal second – I went from being able to see through both eyes, to having no eye and being blind in one. Although, Ive had the support of all my close family/friends (which im eternally grateful for) that has made this process much easier to bare. I still grieve over my oldself. I miss the movement of my eyes being in sync together, i miss not having to wear sunglasses everywhere just to feel confident, and so much more. While one chapter closes, yet another beautiful one opens. I know I have so many things to look forward to in the future. My god has gotten me through it all… all though my faith was tested, my love for God remained strong and I know thats why I am able to be so confident in who I am now, despite everything that hapoened. I am grateful I am able to share my story on a platform like this, where mostly everyone has been so kind. Cheers to more life, more blessings and more opportunities. ???? #eyeloss #fyp #healing #accident #surgery #retractableleash #prostheticeye
She also noted that she had to “relearn everything” with how her eye movement now works. And for a long time, she suffered from migraines, PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks. But she eventually went to therapy, and now she spreads awareness about the dangers of retractable leashes on TikTok:
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out and it made me realize there’s a whole community of people who have one eye, not even due to just freak accidents, but various other reasons. It also made me feel good to talk about it and spread awareness.”
Poor girl. But she’s still as beautiful as ever! And good on her for helping spread the word to possibly prevent others from suffering similar injuries.
[Images via Daniella Abreu/TikTok]
