A mum suffered a gruesome Final Destination-style injury - piercing her eyeball on a broken fish tank. Elizabeth Twitchett, 41, was getting the pet product out of the boot when misfortune struck.
Husband Owain, also 41, rushed her to hospital where medics fought to save her sight. But three surgeries later and it has still not fully returned - meaning she has to wear a patch for certain activities.
Elizabeth, from Swansea, said: "It was so gruesome - it made me think of those Final Destination films. It was very traumatic - a horrible freak accident. I nearly passed out. It was one of the worst pains I've ever felt."
The business owner and piano teacher suffered the horror while dumping the broken fish tank. She had put it into her car and driven it to a local recycling centre on July 6 last year.
But, as she lifted it from the boot, she somehow pierced her own eyeball - leaving her in agony. Elizabeth says she reflexively pulled out the 30cm-long shard and called Owain, who drove her Singleton Hospital.
She was then sent to A&E at nearby Morriston Hospital before going back to Singleton for emergency surgery. Elizabeth said: "It was horrendous. They said they do their best but I had to prepare myself to wake up with no eye.
"The laceration was huge. I had a globe rupture, where the insides of my eyeball had popped out. On the drive over Owain tried to reassure me but I knew it was really really bad. I was desperate for them to save my eye."
Thankfully medical staff managed to save her eyeball - but there is lasting damage. Elizabeth, who wore a patch over the summer, said: "I didn't look in the mirror for a fortnight. And when I did it was awful - I had so much bruising around my eye and massive black stitches.
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Elizabeth returned to work in September. ut weekly visits to the eye clinic revealed she had internal bleeding in her eye. Medics found her macula - the central part of the retina was scarred - so she wouldn't regain any more of her sight. Elizabeth then noticed a dark curtain coming over the eye in November, and was diagnosed with a detached retina.
The scarring had shrunk the retina and partially pulled it off. She has had two more surgeries - one last year and one this year - after fluid built up behind it.
Elizabeth was initially expected to regain 75% of her vision but that prognosis changed since her macula scarred over. She can still drive but has to wear a patch over the eye for tasks like watching TV or reading music.
And she is full of praise for the medical workers who helped her. The mum to Austin, nine, and Henry, six said: "I really can't say enough positive words about my experience with the NHS.
"I think I only waited an hour that day. The staff were amazing. I feel very lucky to have had the care that I did. But my eyelid still droops and my eye looks smaller, and because it's functional I can't get it fixed on the NHS."
Elizabeth has also issued a warning to others recycling glass: wear goggles. She said: "When I see people just chucking glass in at the tip and it sends shivers down my spine. If you have to chuck away glass or hard plastic take someone with you or ask staff to help - and wear goggles."
