A 23-year-old babysitter has issued a warning after being hit in the eye by a Nerf gun, leaving her temporarily unable to see.
Sarah Bell, from Ennis, Montana, had been looking after five boys aged between 1 and 11 when the accident happened. What began as a typical afternoon quickly escalated into a frightening medical emergency.
“When I got there, they all wanted to play with their nerf guns,” Bell told Newsweek. “I myself have had nerf guns as a kid, so I saw no issue with that.”
The group was about to finish playing and move on to lunch when things took a turn. “The second oldest came around a corner and… shot me directly in my right eye,” she said.
Bell described the pain as instant and intense. “My eye was super watery and swollen,” she said. “It burned to open and I just held it with my right hand.”
Despite trying to wipe away the tears and clear her vision, nothing helped. “All boys dropped their guns and said we didn’t have to play anymore,” Bell said. “The boy who shot me almost started crying because he felt so bad. They were helping me get tissues and things.”
The children’s parents returned around 10 minutes later, shortly after the incident. Bell explained what had happened and said they were apologetic. At that point, she could still see—though her vision was blurred.
It wasn’t until Bell left the house that the situation worsened dramatically. Bright light made it much worse and she started to have cloud-like vision.
As panic set in, she called her mom—who lives in Oklahoma—and explained that she could no longer see out of her right eye. Bell then carefully drove home, a 30 to 35 minute journey, while trying to remain calm.
“I tried to call my boyfriend… but he was asleep,” she said. “So I continued my way home very slowly and carefully.”
By the time she reached home, Bell’s condition had worsened further.
“Blood had formed in the bottom of my eye, [I] had lots of pain and I still couldn’t see,” she said.
Her boyfriend took her to the emergency room, where doctors initially struggled to identify the issue due to limited equipment.
She was referred to an ophthalmologist days later, where the full extent of the injury became clear.
“They said that I had bruising above my eye inside the eyelid causing it to feel sore when I looked around, and that there was a hole between my iris and cornea,” Bell said.
The injury had disrupted the way her eye dilated, leaving one pupil larger than the other and affecting her vision.
At the time, her eyesight had deteriorated to 20/70, meaning she could only see clearly at 20 feet what someone with normal vision can see from 70 feet away.
Bell was prescribed steroid eye drops and medication to help restore normal function. While the cloudiness subsided after about a week, her vision took longer to recover.
Even now, she still experiences sensitivity to sunlight and some artificial lighting. Her vision has since returned to 20/20, but she has been left with one pupil 0.6mm bigger than the other.
Since the incident, Bell has shared her story on TikTok (@hanginwithsb). She hopes her experience raises awareness about the potential dangers of seemingly harmless toys.
“My message to others who use nerf guns is to please wear eye protection,” Bell said. “I know they are not advertised as much, but they should be made more aware of how dangerous and powerful these toys can be.”
She urged parents and children alike to take simple precautions. “Goggles, glasses or sunglasses—anything is better than risking a child’s, friend’s or family member’s vision,” she said.
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