Derek Ramsay rushed to the ER after looking straight into UV light while fixing it

Derek Ramsay was rushed to the emergency room after looking straight into the UV light as he was fixing it.

In an interview with Iya Villania and Camille Prats on "Mars Pa More," Derek and Andrea narrated the incident, saying they have a UV light at home to help in disinfecting their things.

When Derek saw it flickering, he decided to fix it. As he was fixing it, Andrea reminded him not to look straight into the UV light.

But despite this, Derek briefly looked at the UV light.

He said it happened at around 7pm, after which the couple was still able to watch Netflix and have dinner together.

"But at around 2am hindi ko na maidilat 'yung mata ko," Derek said. "Talagang they were burning, eh ayoko naman siyang gisingin."

Derek said when he went to the bathroom to wash his eyes, it just got worse.

"I went to the bathroom, naghugas ako ng mata. It got worse. Then it just got worse and worse, so napilitan na akong gisingin si Andrea, at tinakbo na ako sa ospital," Derek said.

According to the Kapuso hunk, Andrea put some eyedrops on him, thinking it may just be a bad case of dry eyes but "that's when talagang sumisigaw na ako sa pain."

That's also when Andrea started to panic. "Kasi yung eyedrops na binigay ko, wala namang anything. Hindi siya maanghang, pag-try ko sa sarili ko, wala akong na-feel."

Derek said he was so worried that he lost his eyesight.

According to Andrea, Derek looking into the UV light didn't even last a minute.

Nevertheless, Derek acknowledged his mistake and said he knew that the first instruction when it comes to UV light is to not look straight into it.

Despite the DOH saying UV light disinfection is best in healthcare settings, more and more people have included UV light in their arsenal at home to fight off COVID-19. 

In a 24 Oras interview with Ivan Mayrina, Dr. Jay Racoma, an ophthalmologist said prolonged exposure of UVC radiation to the eyes will result in photokeratitis or photoconjunctivitis.

“The outer parts of the eyes, the cornea and the conjunctiva so same way that our body is covered by skin, the conjunctiva is the covering of the eye and the cornea is the outer part of the eye so sila ‘yong unang tatamaan if ever by UVC radiation,” Racoma explained.

“If there’s prolonged exposure to the eyes, which will result in photokeratitis and this will result in pain, irritation, redness swelling, and temporary blurring,” he added. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News