Cruise horror: teenager loses sight in one eye
<p>When 15-year-old Riley Adams boarded a cruise to New Zealand with his family and a group of friends on January 12, it was supposed to be a fun holiday before school started back.</p>
<p>However, the trip turned to horror when, on the first night of the 10-day cruise, the young Queenslander was stuck with a headache. The next morning, his life had changed forever.</p>
<p>“What was just a headache when he went to bed that night and then awoke Saturday morning to a golf ball size bulge from his left eye, was confronting to us all,” Riley’s parents, Jason and Jodi Adams, wrote on a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/riley-adams-loss-of-sight-in-1-eye" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">GoFundMe page</span></strong></a> to raise money towards their son’s medical costs, which has so far raised over $17,000.</p>
<p><img width="600" height="400" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7267316/27024144_15161629070299_funddescription.jpg" alt="27024144_1516162907.0299_funddescription" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p>
<p>“After being seen by the on-ship doctors and still being out at sea for another 24 hours, panic did start to creep in.</p>
<p>“Once arriving at Dunedin Hospital and having a CT scan done our nightmare began.”</p>
<p>A specialist told the family Riley would need immediate surgery to reduce the swelling around his eye. They were told he had contracted sinusitis, which had blocked the drainage holes, leading to a massive inflammation in the eye known as orbital cellulitis. As a result, he lost his sight in that eye.</p>
<p>“Devastatingly the outcome we all had to face was that Riley’s optical nerve has been damaged in the time the infection took hold, and now our beautiful, charismatic, outgoing 15-year-old son has lost his sight in his left eye. It's a lot for a family in a foreign country to take in.”</p>
<p>Even after the operation, Riley’s eye was still infected, and he was given strong doses of antibiotics and steroids to prevent him contracting meningitis.</p>
<p>“Our lives feel like they are just spinning around as we try to take it all in ... As parents we are just so sad for our beautiful boy at 15 to have lost his sight in one of his eyes – this tragedy is devastating at any age but at 15 it breaks our hearts.”</p>
<p>In an update published eight hours ago, however, the family finally received some good news – Riley can finally go home after nine days of horror.</p>
<p>“As happy as we all are about this, I think we are all a bit apprehensive about leaving our safety net in this Hospital, where we have received the best care imaginable,” Jason and Jodi wrote. “But the three of us embrace it with open arms and realise what is waiting at home for Riley.</p>
<p>“From the bottom of our hearts thank you for every donation made and every comment posted. Positivity is definitely the best medicine one can have.”</p>
