The partial solar eclipse earlier this month left hundreds of UNC students suffering from retinal damage after staring at the sun unprotected. The Optometry Department will be backlogged until the end of May as they treat the blinded students.

“I knew something was wrong with my eyes when I still couldn’t see anything for about a day,” says Chauncy Cheddarsworth, one of those afflicted. “I was staring at the sun and everything went black so I just thought the eclipse had started.”

Unfortunately for Cheddarsworth, there was not a full eclipse—he had just gone blind. 

It seems many were misinformed about how an eclipse works. Some of those blinded even had the special eclipse glasses but reportedly removed them because, “all [they] could see was an underwhelming orange dot.”  

The Optometry Department has notified students that if they cannot see, if their vision looks like swiss cheese or if their eyes are in constant pain, there may be something wrong and they should visit an eye doctor immediately.