Olivia Burke
A woman has warned motorists to be wary of what they are wearing behind the wheel after she ended up losing an eye in a minor car crash.
You might remember the grim story of the woman left with no forehead after putting her feet up on the dashboard prior to a crash, and now Hannah Oliver, 29, has shared how one seemingly innocent fashion choice left her with life-changing injuries.
Oliver said she knows that it is something people 'do all the time' while driving without having any idea of the potential dangers, but she is now on a mission to warn people how one simple accessory choice 'changed her whole life'.
She explained that back in August 2021, she had been in her car and was travelling at just 25mph when she ended up in a fender bender with another motorist.
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Although it was only a 'minor car accident', it had major consequences for Hannah.
The business owner, from Atlanta, Georgia, explained that another driver had pulled out in front of her and slammed on his brakes, but she 'did not react fast enough' and ended up smashing into the back of him.
In a TikTok video bravely detailing her story, Hannah said: "When that happened, my airbag came out. It hit my precious designer sunglasses and they shattered into a million pieces."
The next thing she remembers is regaining consciousness and looking up at her rearview mirror, which is when she realised that one of her eyes had been 'shredded' and 'looked like it had gone through the garbage disposal'.
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Hannah explained: "My eye was gone, it deflated on impact. My optic nerve was severed and my retina was detached. All of the glass had shredded my eye into pieces."
She underwent six surgeries to reconstruct her eye and she now wears a prosthetic, which she got in September 2022.
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But the fact she had been left partially blind just because she wore her favourite sunglasses didn't sit well with Hannah - and her ordeal ended up inspiring her to start up her own business.
The TikToker launched her own company, Blue Eye, which sells a line of shatter-resistant sunglasses in the hopes of saving someone else from going through the same nightmare as she did.
Each design is dedicated to a stage in her incredible journey to recovery, while a portion of each purchase is donated to eye research charities to help others who have lost their eyesight. Talk about coming full circle!
Hannah can't believe how many people don't know that sunglasses have such a sinister side, and she is now working to raise awareness of the potential risks wearing them brings on her social media accounts.
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She continued: "I think its crazy that people don't know your sunglasses can do this. Over 75% of them are made with either plastic, nylon or glass lenses, which will shatter right on impact.
"What's even more nuts, is the fact that these sunglasses manufacturers could produce shatter resistant lenses for literally pennies but they chose not to. Now that I only have one eye, I have to protect what I have left.
"It literally took me to six surgeries to get to this and now I'm partially blind and I've got to live with this for the rest of my life, all because of some designer sunglasses that I thought were cute on my face, that I thought was going to protect me, but they didn't."
People were moved by Hannah's video recounting her horror experience to inform others and praised her resilience in the comments.
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One said: "No claw clips, no sunglasses - got it!"
Another wrote: "My Ray-Ban's exploded like that on a hard floor. I've always had cheap plastic ones before, it was a wake up call for sure."
A third added: "Oh my goodness. I live in my sunglasses and never knew or thought of this! I'll be checking your range out ASAP."
A fourth commented: "Terrified to wear my glasses now."
And a fifth chimed in: "Crazy because you think you're protecting your eyes with them too."