A MUM whose son lost an eye after he was hit in the face with a firework has begged spectators to wear goggles while celebrating Bonfire Night.
Tyler Norris-Sayers, 15, was at an organised display when a stray rocket exploded in his face, causing his devastating injury.
The teen may now need a prosthetic eye after his treatment stopped when the country went into lockdown in March 2020 due to Covid, his mum Nicola fears.
And the 43-year-old is now urging people to wear protective eyewear and clothes to prevent the same thing happening to other families after a five-year ordeal.
She said: “We have had full confirmation that his eye is lost and that they cannot do anymore to save his sight.
“This was probably due to the lack of treatment during the pandemic as the focus seemed to be solely on Covid.”
Tyler missed out on “significant amounts” of schooling due to the accident and there were fears he would not manage to get his GCSEs.
But his prognosis is now that his eye will not get any worse so his family have decided he will complete his exams to have “some chance at a future”.
Nicola said: “Once he has completed school we can revisit the possibility of treatment for a prosthetic eye.
“At this stage, however, it is not as simple as just remove one for the other. He will require months of surgery to rebuild the eye socket and the lining in his eye as currently the amount of scar tissue he has is too great and that will need removal.
“It will be many surgeries to prepare his eye for a prosthetic and there is no guarantee that his body will not reject the prosthetic.”
Most read in The Sun
Tyler has already undergone more than 60 operations to save his eye, but his treatment was cancelled last year because of the pandemic.
And Nicola said it will be up to Tyler to decide whether he wants to go through that kind of “trauma” and “disruption” for further operations – or if he “just wants to live with the deformity he has now as a result of the firework injury”.
An ultrasound scan at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital last year revealed Tyler had developed phthisis bulbi – a shrunken or non-functional eye – ending all hope of saving it.
Heartbroken Nicola, an admin manager, said: “Sadly, we will never know whether this was the way it was always going to go or whether it’s the lack of treatment due to the pandemic.
“It’s frustrating because, believe me, we have fought hard to save his sight and his eye and done everything we possibly could.
“Who do you hold responsible for the lack of treatment when all they seem to care about is Covid?
“It’s hard because for it to just be the end just like that after all we’ve been through really hurts because that’s my baby and as any parent will agree, you fight tooth and nail to fix your children’s hurts and take away their pain and suffering, and its pretty tough when you can’t it.
“It almost makes you feel like a failure as a parent.”
‘TRAUMATIC’
Nicola was forced to spend thousands of pounds and travel hundreds of miles for Tyler’s treatment at the UK’s top eye hospital.
The schoolboy underwent several operations at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead – 274 miles away from their home in Burnley, Lancashire.
The 548-mile round trip costed Nicola £1,000 each time in travel and hotel costs.
Nicola said: “Everything seemed to be going ok and he was healing nicely with no major changes.
“Then we attended the clinic in East Grinstead in early March 2020 and although the eye itself looked good, he had suddenly lost light perception in his eye.
“The hospital did an ultrasound but it wasn’t clear enough to see what was happening and they wanted to refer us for an MRI scan to check what was going on at that stage it was presumed that it was overgrown scar tissue once again.
“Then pandemic hit and all check-ups, hospital appointments and contact stopped.”
Even at a safe distance fireworks can go rogue
Mum Nicola
Nicola is now urging people to wear layered clothing and goggles just to be on the safe side.
She said: “I would anyone going to a bonfire to be cautious. Accidents do happen, even at organised events.
“And if it doesn’t look like it’s been organised in a safe manner with the correct distance away from the crowd, then it’s probably not safe so do not attend.
“I would advise wearing clothing to protect your body, and even goggles or protective eyewear, as even at a safe distance fireworks can go rogue”.
Nicola was standing behind a security barrier with Tyler when the rocket fell over and shot into the 100-strong crowd, also injuring a 60-year-old woman and an eight-year-old girl.
The 2016 blast set fire to Tyler’s jacket and a rapid response fire crew, paramedics, police and an on-call doctor raced to the scene at the Railway Social Club in Burnley.
Tyler was rushed to Royal Blackburn Hospital and was then transferred to the burns unit at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital for further treatment.
Police and the Health and Safety Executive launched a probe into the freak accident, and it later emerged organisers did not have insurance for the event.
