TikTok star got flesh-eating parasite in eye from contact lenses. She went blind

Lilian Mechert is now on her road to recovery from the parasite infection. (Image: @limelchert/Instagram

A popular social media influencer from Brazil recently shared her harrowing experience with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare but serious infection of the eye involving a flesh-eating parasite. Lilian Melchert took to social media to warn others of the dangers of contact lenses and contaminated tap water.

In her video, Lilian told her 2.9 million TikTok followers that she contracted the flesh-eating parasite in her left eye in early March. She experienced excruciating pain, and her vision began to deteriorate rapidly.

She recalled: "Pain, a lot of pain! It felt like I was giving birth to a child through my eye."

She added that at the start of it all, her affected eye "looked like a kidney".

Despite seeking emergency medical care and trying various antibiotics and eye drops, her condition worsened.

After 15 days of unsuccessful treatment, 30-year-old Lilian's vision disappeared entirely, and none of the diagnoses seemed to fit. It wasn't until she travelled to Brazil to seek help from her family and trusted doctors that she was diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a carnivorous parasite that devours the eye's cornea.

Lilian's experience serves as a cautionary tale to anyone who wears contact lenses or exposes their eyes to tap water. Acanthamoeba can be acquired from contaminated contact lenses or even tap water, making it essential to take extra precautions to protect our sensitive eyes.

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While Lilian’s treatment has improved her condition, she is still on a delicate treatment journey that can last for months and may even involve a corneal transplant. She is doing daily meditations focused on healing her eye and remains hopeful that everything will be fine in the end.

She also said that with the treatment, she can now see about 80 per cent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that contact lens wearers should always wash their hands before handling their lenses, replace their lenses as recommended by their eye doctor, and never store lenses in water.