Shire investigate eye pain claims

The Shire of East Pilbara is investigating a series of complaints stemming from Friday night’s Bloody Slow Cup netball game which left players and spectators with searing pain in their eyes.

Shire chief executive Allen Cooper said a working group had been established to find the probable cause of the eye complaints which saw at least seven people attend Newman Hospital with symptoms of ‘welder’s flash’.

An employee at Newman’s Boulevard Pharmacy also reported a spike in customers complaining of eye-related pain on Saturday morning.

Mr Cooper said the Shire was aware “something occurred” at the Pauline Mataka netball facility on Friday night and an investigation had since been launched.

He said the netball court’s floodlights appeared the likely source of the problem but would not confirm until due process had been taken.

“It is leaning a bit toward the lights but I can’t be 100 per cent sure at the moment,” Mr Cooper said.

“We’re going to have a look into it.”

A WA Country Health Service spokesman said the rural body was conscious of the incident and would ask the Shire of East Pilbara for an explanation.

Locals took to the internet to vent their displeasure at the weekend after players and spectators claimed they experienced similar symptoms during the Newman Netball Association’s grand final in early August.

Newman resident Lee Lockyer said the issue had been ongoing for four months since vandals smashed the protective light covers which restrict the amount of ultraviolet light emitted by the netball court’s floodlights.

Mr Cooper confirmed the Shire replaced a number of the light covers earlier this year due to vandalism and that it had also received complaints about sore eyes “a few months ago”.

Newman mother of two Sharon Hackett-Rowe said she attended Newman Hospital about 4am Saturday after waking up and being unable to open her eyes.

“The pain was unbelievable, it was like someone had thrown a handful of dirt in my eyes,” Mrs Hackett-Rowe said.

“Every time I moved my eyelid it just felt like sand was cutting into my eyes. It was agony. I have never felt pain like that.”

Another Newman resident, Denise O’Neill, said the pain felt “like acid in my eyes” while Jacinta Ronchi said her boss couldn’t go out in the sun the following day because it was “too painful”.

‘Welder’s flash’, or ‘arc eye’, is described by doctors as akin to sunburn of the eye and causes a painful inflammation of the cornea.

It occurs when a person is exposed to bright ultraviolet light.

Treatment may include dilating drops, dressing and antibiotics. The condition may cause infection which can lead to vision loss.