A golfer, 44, has been blinded after an off-target shot by a fellow player saw a ball smash into his face and shatter his eye.
Builder Leigh Powell was enjoying a day on the green at his local golf club when he was suddenly struck by the wayward ball in June last year.
Mr Powell, who has been a golfer for over 20 years was knocked out for more than five minutes – leaving other players thinking he was dead.
His eye was so swollen that doctors had to wait a whole five months, until November, before they could see inside it properly to operate.
He was using eye drops 50 times a day and sleeping sitting up for months, just to get the fluid to drain.
There was blood everywhere when he was first hit, the 44-year-old said: ‘It was excruciating, I’ve never known pain like that, I was just screaming and screaming, even the morphine didn’t really touch it.’
He said: ‘I feel let down: I’ve always paid my taxes and I feel the system should support you at times like this, just until you can get things sorted out.’It’s really tough not working, having nothing to do, it really destroys your mental health.’
