Ipswich Winger Feared for His Sight

Lee Martin has spoken of the moment he thought he may be going to go blind in one eye after a freak golfing accident.

The former Manchster United winger was taken to opthalmic specialists at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London after a stone flew up and caught him square in an eye.

Martin told itfc.co.uk: ‘It was very serious at one stage and I was really worried.

‘A stone flicked up from underneath the ball as I played my shot and caught my eye and cracked my lens.

‘A few hours later I was totally blind in my right eye.

‘One of my mates is a doctor and he popped down to have a look at it for me and he was surprised at the rate of the swelling and was also worried because my eye had turned totally black, not just the pupil but the whole eye.

‘That was when we hit the panic buttons and they took me to the hospital, who in turn sent me to a specialist. They did a thorough check to see if there was any damage to the nerves and the retina.

‘It was very worrying time but fortunately there is no lasting damage. My vision was still quite blurry for a while, which took me some time to get used to, and even now it’s not properly dilated in my right eye. It was just one of those things but luckily I’ve managed to get over it.’

Martin is in the squad for the trip to Nottingham Forest but is expected to start on the bench.