A Britain’s Got Talent star has been left with a shocking injury after an accident.
In 2020, magician Damien O’Brien made it to the final of the ITV series, which was eventually won by performer Jon Courtenay.
However, four years on, Damien has now said he is ‘likely to have permanent vision loss’.
Sharing a post on social media, he revealed to his followers he was spending New Year’s in A&E.
‘Thank you to everyone for the messages. So last night I managed to burn about 60-70% off a layer of my cornea.
‘I’m ok but in a lot of pain. Likely to have some permanent vision damage. Again, thank you for the well wishes,’ he concluded.
Speaking to Metro, Damien revealed he sustained the injury after some steroid cream accidentally got into his eye on Thursday.
After applying the cream, which was prescribed by a GP, and realising something was wrong, Damien was rushed to hospital where he was given the diagnosis.
‘I was informed that I’ve burnt away approximately 60-70% of the cornea layer,’ he shared.
‘I’ll have a follow-up appointment, but I’m likely to have some permanent vision loss, especially for distance.’
Damien said he could barely see anything out of the eye at the moment and it was ‘extremely blurry’.
‘However, I’ve been told that I’ll regain some vision, but it might not be the same. There will also be some scarring on my eye,’ he added.
He went on to thank the staff at Moorfields Eye Hospital who helped treat him.
During his time on BGT, Damien spoke openly about his struggles with mental health.
‘People might have seen me up there on stage looking confident. But behind the act has been a long, hard struggle,’ he told The Mirror.
‘I’ve hit my lowest but now I’m working hard to make my dreams come true.’
Speaking to Metro he also revealed he’d initially planned to audition for the show in 2018 but had to pull out a few weeks before due to ‘suffering very badly with depression and mental health’.
‘I had to go get help for myself and I was glad to have my family and friends around me and I got the help I needed.’
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