Nearly one year ago, on Father’s Day, an unfortunate accident while mowing the lawn forever changed the life of Nolan Chisholm, a 16-year-old from Pictou County, N.S.
“I didn’t even get 20 feet with the lawnmower, and a piece of debris came out from underneath the lawn mower and hit the house and ricocheted back into my left eye and ruptured my [eye] globe,” Chisholm told CTV Atlantic.
While he says the incident was “painless,” it caused irreparable damage, leaving him blind in his left eye.
“When any mom or dad see their kids hurt, it’s heartbreaking,” Brandy Simmons, Chisholm’s mom, said. “But when your child suffers a trauma like that, you kind of go into a different mode, and it’s just, ‘Help him.’”
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind says that there has been an increase in eye injuries among young people from the ages of 15 to 24.
“We’re actually seeing two-thirds of eye injuries happening outside the workplace,” Rhiannon Verran, a low vision specialist with the CNIB told CTV Atlantic. “They’re happening inside the home, when people are doing DIY projects, repairs around the home and yardwork.”
Chisholm is urging people to wear safety glasses while mowing the lawn.
“I realize that not everyone thinks like I do and I just wanted to raise awareness about eye safety,” he said. “It’s a pretty serious thing that can happen in freak accidents like mine.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh
