Man almost loses eye after medical blunder at Milton Keynes Hospital

Mechanic Nertil Troka went to Milton Keynes Hospital to get his right eye checked after a splinter of metal flew into it at work.

But the discomfort turned to screaming agony when the doctor dabbed at the eye with what is believed to be silver nitrate - the flesh-sealing substance used to cauterize wounds.

“He got the little wooden stick with a brown end and touched my eyeball with it. Immediately I felt the worst pain ever, like my eye was on fire, and I couldn’t see,” said  the Bletchley 28-year-old.

His screams alerted a second medic who chastised his colleague and frantically doused the eye  with water.

“He said: “He should never have used that” and  he told me to get the eye clinic at Stoke Mandeville hospital immediately,” said Nertil.

With no offer of an ambulance, he paid for a taxi and spent the 24 mile journey in agony.

He stayed in hospital for five days while specialists battled to repair the second degree burn on the most delicate part of the body.

“They were horrified. They said they had never seen such a case before and they warned me I could lose my sight or even lose my whole eye.”

Nertil may still surgery will be needed on the damaged tissue.

He has to apply steroid and antibiotic drops once every hour day and night.

“I can’t sleep, I can’t see properly, I can’t drive and I can’t work. It is horrible,” he said.

Milton Keynes Hospital this week apologised to Mr Troka.

A spokesman told the Citizen: “Our teams work hard to ensure that every patient receives good and safe care, so we are disappointed to learn of Mr Troka’s recent experience.

“We have apologised to Mr Troka and explained to him that this incident is being investigated.”

The spokesman added: “We will of course keep him up to date through each stage of this investigation.”