A Florida woman lost her eye last year in a terribly freak accident while walking her large dog.
Daniella Abreu, a 24-year-old medical assistant, was getting ready to take her 50-pound husky, Blu, for a walk on August 7, 2023, when she noticed that the rope leash she normally uses was too frayed, so she decided to use a an old retractable belt instead.
While walking around her neighborhood in Stuart that evening, Blu saw a rabbit and charged at it. People reports.
Abreu held the belt tightly and retreated, trying to control Blu, when the belt broke and hit her in the right eye, leaving her bloody and blind.
“As he was running one way and I was pulling the other, the friction of the leash just shot back and knocked me off, hitting me right in the eye,” she said.
Daniella Abreu, a 24-year-old medical assistant, was struck in the right eye by a retractable leash while walking her husky Blu on August 7, 2023
‘It happened so quickly, but I knew straight away it was bad. The force of the belt was so traumatic.”
“There was so much blood,” Abreu continued. ‘I thought I had completely lost my eye, so my fight-or-flight mode kicked in and I was able to run home. I ran inside screaming.
‘My mother came to me first and I fell into her arms and turned very pale. My dad, oh my god, his face was so scared and terrified.
“Even though it may not have been a life-or-death situation at the time, I obviously didn’t know,” she said. “But I knew it was a pretty serious situation. I lost a lot of blood and eventually passed out.
“All the shocks that went through my body just overpowered the feeling,” Abreu said.
Her parents then called an ambulance and due to the severity of her injuries, she was taken an hour away to a level one trauma center in Fort Pierce.
There she was told that she had a fracture under her eye, a retinal detachment and that her eyelid had split open.
She said her face looked “smashed in” and there was a lot of trauma to the bones around her eyes.
Due to the severity of her injuries, Abreu was rushed to a level one trauma center in Fort Pierce, where she learned she had a fracture under her eye, a detached retina and her eyelid was split open.
After Abreu took X-rays, doctors stitched her eyelid back together.
About the same time the adrenaline went away and the pain started.
“The pain was a 10 out of 10,” she said. ‘I started crying hysterically because it was so bad.’
Abreu was then told she needed emergency surgery, which required her to be transferred to another hospital, this time in Miami.
At that point, the medical assistant said she was “preparing for the worst.”
Once she woke up from the surgery, Abreu discovered that she was permanently blind in her right eye and there was no way to save her sight.
She would also need additional surgeries over the next year to allow the rest of her face to heal, she told People.
“Even to this day I still don’t believe it’s true,” she said.
‘I had to put my whole life on hold.
Doctors stitched her eyelid back together and she discovered she was permanently blind in her right eye
“I went from being a super active girl – to being on a competitive dance team, playing sports as a part-time job, to a full-time job – and actually having to take a year off from my life.”
Ultimately, Abreu underwent four surgeries and doctors confirmed that the damage to her right eye was so severe that it had to be removed.
For months afterward, Abreau said she was bedridden and slept often — not only to give her time to heal, but also to grieve her past life.
She said she suffered side effects from the accident, including severe migraines, PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks.
Eventually, Abreu went to a therapist.
“I basically had to relearn everything,” she said.
‘When you have both eyes, you’re used to opening them at the same time. But my right eye was sewn shut, so I had to gradually learn to open just my left eye, which was stressful and caused me more pain.”
“I went from being a super active girl – to being on a competitive dance team, playing sports as a part-time job, to a full-time job – and actually having to take a year off from my life.”
Abreu underwent her most recent surgery in June, when she was fitted with a prosthetic eye – which she received in August.
It will now need to be replaced every three to five years.
Abreu said she’s happy to feel more like herself, but she’s still “insecure about a lot of things.”
“I don’t like the movement of my prosthetic, the range of motion is very limited,” she told People. “I still wear a lot of sunglasses everywhere I go because I’m so ashamed of how it looks.”
She also continues to struggle with dizziness and long-distance vision, but is starting to regain some of her confidence as she adjusts to her new normal and shares her progress on TikTok.
She uses her platform, where she has more than 125,700 followers, to connect with others who have suffered similar injuries and warn others about the dangers of retractable leashes.
Abreu was fitted with a prosthetic eye in June and received it in August
“I reached out to a lot of people, and it made me realize that there is a whole community of people who have one eye, not even because of freak accidents, but for various other reasons,” Abreu said.
‘It also made me feel good to talk about it and create awareness.’
In one video on July 14Abreu said people keep asking her if she blames Blu for what happened.
“Not angry at all,” she said. ‘Our bond is stronger than ever. He has gotten me through my hardships this past year.”
Abreu remains hopeful about her recovery and grateful to share her story
She then shared a video on August 7 showing her progress in a year.
“Today marks a year where my life changed forever,” Abreu wrote in the caption.
“I still think about how I went from being able to see with both eyes to having one eye and being blind in one literal second.”
She went on to say that she still “mourns my old self.”
“I miss the movement of my eyes in sync, I miss not having to wear sunglasses everywhere just to feel confident and so much more.”
Still, Abreu maintained a hopeful outlook.
“As one chapter closes, another beautiful chapter opens,” she wrote. ‘I know I have so many great things to look forward to in the future.
“My God got me through… even though my faith was tested, my love for God remained strong and I know that’s why I can be so confident in who I am today, despite everything that’s happened.
“I’m grateful to be able to share my story on a platform like this, where almost everyone has been so kind,” Abreu concludes.
“Cheers to more life, more blessings, and more opportunities.”