Boy has been left with a HOLE in his eye after being hit with laser

Mother reveals her son, eight, was left with a HOLE on his retina after a laser pointer was directed at his eyes by other children on holiday – as doctors say ‘he’s lucky to have kept his sight’

• Gayle Kelly Hole, from Devon, took her family on a getaway to Turkey in May
• Her son, eight, had a laser pointer directed at his vision by children in the resort  
• Aflie referred after optician became concerned about ‘hole’ on his routine scan 
• Medics have since told mother-of-one he’s lucky to not have lost half his sight 

A mother has revealed how she was left distraught after her eight-year-son was left with a ‘hole’ on his retina – after children targeted him with laser pointers while on a family holiday in Turkey.  

Mother-of-one Gayle Kelly Hole, from Musbury, Devon, shared on Facebook how her family had jetted off to the popular holiday destination during May half-term – and had no idea that the pointers could cause such damage. 

A group of young tourists in the resort were playing with them and her son, Alfie, momentarily had one shined directly into his line of vision, she explained. 

Miss Hole revealed her shock after a routine optician appointment for Alfie, months later on August 31, left her being referred to her local hospital after a ‘hole’ was spotted in his left retina.

In the UK, it is not illegal to own a laser pen, however if a person shines one into a driver’s eyes or into an aircraft cabin deliberately, they are committing an offence.

Gayle Kelly Hole, from Musbury, Devon, was left in tears after finding out her eight-year-son has a permanent hole in his eye, thanks to children running around with laser pointers during a holiday to Turkey. Pictured: the scarring on Miss Hole’s son Alfie’s eye

Mother-of-one Gayle Kelly Hole, from Musbury, Devon, seen with her eight-year-old son Alfie

Following his optician’s advice, Alfie was referred to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Eye Unit and a scan on September 17 revealed a hole in his left retina caused by the laser.

Miss Hole said a consultant questioned if Alfie had been on holiday recently and if he had any contact with lasers – to which the mother admitted that children in Turkey would run around with them. 

Lasers are organised into eight different classes to rank their potential threat as adverse health risks. A Class One laser is believed to be safe and with no possibility of eye damage. 

Green lasers or blue lasers can be more damaging than red or orange ones, because of the frequency at which they omit light – around 550 nanometers – which is extremely powerful. 

Medics told Miss Hole that Alfie is lucky to not have lost half his eye sight and that the hole will never heal.    

Sharing her story in a bid to raise awareness about the dangers of laser pointers, Miss Hole said: ‘I’m in utter shock.  

Sharing her story on Facebook (pictured) in a bid to raise awareness about the dangers of laser pointers, Miss Hole said: ‘I’m in utter shock’

‘Alfie (my son) went to Specsavers recently to have a normal check up as well as my self. On this particular check up the opticians found something in the back left eye ball (white cloud type thing). 

THE DANGERS OF USING LASER POINTERS AS TOYS 

Lasers are organised into eight different classes to rank their potential threat as adverse health risks. 

A Class One laser is believed to be safe and with no possibility of eye damage.

Public Health England advises that lasers in toys should be Class One or of such a low out-put that they do not need to be classified.

Green lasers or blue lasers can be more damaging than red or orange ones, because of the frequency at which they omit light – around 550 nanometers – which is extremely powerful. 

‘So they referred us to Exeter Hospital Devon Eye Clinic, so today we attended his appointment, with lots off tests/scans/eye drops…  four hours later we seen a consultant. 

‘We sat down anxiously waiting to hear what the results were and the consultant said ‘Have you been on Holiday recently?’. My reply, ‘Yes, Turkey in May half-term’. He then continued to ask, ‘Has Alfie been in contact with any lasers’. 

She admitted that the question made her pause until she remembered laser pointers being used as toys by children when attending evening discos or entertainment. 

She explained: ‘There was ten plus kids running around with these lasers that you could buy at the hotel shop, Miss Hole recalled. ‘There where lots of kids running around at this disco as young as three to four years old holding them.’

According to the mother, the consultant then said: ‘Well, I’ve seen this three to four times in the last few years, the lasers should be banned. This Miss Hole is what has caused this (scar) small hole in Alfie’s left eye.’  

Reaction: Social media users were quick to praise the mother for sharing her upsetting story

A distraught Miss Hole, who said she holidayed with TUI, added: ‘I’m absolutely shocked, feeling slightly sick and nearly in tears. 

‘The consultant said, ‘Alfie has been caught in his eye with one of these green lasers, lucky only for seconds, and Alfie is very lucky he hasn’t lost his eye sight in the left eye.” 

A TUI spokesperson said: ‘We are very sorry to hear of Ms Hole’s experience and we can confirm that our hotel partner is no longer selling these products. We will be in contact with the customer to apologise for their experience.

‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our number one priority and we’d like to reassure customers we carry out regular health and safety audits at all of the hotels we feature.’

Social media users were quick to praise the mother for sharing her upsetting story, with one saying: ‘Shocking. Good to raise awareness about this.’

Another said: ‘Omg. That’s so sad. So scary, they should ban these. Shared.’

‘Good God! That’s terrible. I had no idea! I hope he makes a quick recover. This is terrible’, a third wrote. 

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