It is well known that certain toys or other objects can be dangerous for children. A little boy had the painful experience of this after pointing a laser pen at his eye.
Jonny Marshall was seven years old when he lost 75% of his eyesight to a laser pen. Since then, her mother has been fighting to get this type of object banned.
At the time, the little boy was attending his sister’s school fair when he saw a laser pointer on a booth. And the least we can do is that the little boy really wanted to bring this toy home. After pleading with his parents, Jonny finally won his case and bought the pen with his pocket money.
The laser pen burns the child’s retina
Jonny’s daily life took a dramatic turn when the boy had the bad reflex to point the laser pen at eye level. Consequence: the object burned his retina in a quarter of a second. In total, Jonny lost 75% of his eyesight.
As the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health points out, laser pens average 3 to 5 milliwatts. However, some objects have higher output power which may cause visual disturbances.
This domestic incident upset Angela Marshall, Jonny’s mother. Today, she is fighting to get this type of toy banned. At the same time, the mother of the family organizes prevention campaigns to alert the general public to the danger of laser pens.