I lost my eye to cancer because of frequently wearing cheap sunglasses

London, England: A mum lost her right eye to skin cancer because she wore cheap sunglasses that gave her no protection, writes Pamela Owen in the Sunday People.

Deborah Kane, 44, had the organ removed in a life-saving op to stop the disease spreading to her brain.

And Deborah, told by her consultant that using budget shades on holidays led to her contracting the cancer, warned the public to avoid them.

She said: “Buying cheap sunglasses cost me my eye. I want others to know the dangers.”

Her warning comes as tests showed cut-price pairs often fail to screen out damaging ultraviolet rays, leading to a range of eye complaints.

Deborah, mother to Annabel, 14, and eight-year-old Charlie, said her problems began when she was 24.

A trip to her GP confirmed that a mole on her back was cancerous and it was immediately removed.

But in December 2011, teaching assistant Deborah started to suffer with blurred vision and was ­eventually diagnosed with a malignant melanoma ­behind her right eye.

Deborah said: “My mind immediately went back to a teenage holiday in Lanzarote when I had been badly sunburned.

“I had blistered very badly on my neck – which was exactly the same place where I’d first had skin cancer.

“I had scrimped on sunglasses, too. I bought cheap ones because they were trendy, but they didn’t protect my eyes at all.

“I used to buy lots of them every time I went on holiday because they only cost a couple of Euros.

“I binned them all as soon as I was diagnosed with cancer.”

She went on: “My consultant confirmed that the sun was definitely the cause and that the holiday was likely the starting point for cancer.

“I was so angry, so frustrated with myself. But it was too late for that.”

In a pioneering nine-hour operation, consultants drilled into Deborah’s head to carry out surgery to prevent the cancer reaching her brain.

Deborah, who now wears an eyepatch, then had months of radiotherapy, and a year later had recovered enough to return to work.

She added: “Having one eye doesn’t stop me at all and I’ve learned to be comfortable with the way I look.

“I drive a car and do everything like a normal mum. The way I see it, losing my eye saved my life.”

Deborah spoke out after lab tests by consumer group Which? found that budget shades can lead to bad eyesight, double vision and headaches.

The watchdog’s health expert Joanna Pearl said: “These glasses might cost only £5, but you still wouldn’t expect them to fail British Standards or cause unpleasant short-term vision problems – but a number did do.

“Three pairs contained ‘vertical prism’ which could cause double vision and headaches.

“Another pair had an optical power that could make astigmatism worse.

“Three pairs let in different amounts of light across the lens, meaning ­objects may appear closer than they are.

“One pair was also mislabelled so the wearer would be unaware they were too dark for safe driving.”

Senior optometrist Chris Worsman, meanwhile, said UVB, an ultraviolet ray, can cause long-term damage to the eye’s lens, which helps focus light.

Chris, of Viewpoint Opticians in York, said: “The lens is made up of proteins all in a straight line but UVB causes them to tangle and unravel ­leaving the lens cloudy in places.

“This is also known as a cataract which is common after years of ­exposure to the sun.” London-based ocular oncologist Amit Arora confirmed “excessive” ultraviolet light exposure was a known risk factor for tumours of the eye surface.

He said: “Wearing good quality sunglasses that meet European Standards is important to reduce that exposure and the risk of developing these cancers.”

Deborah added: “I know I’ve been lucky – through ­losing my eye, my life was saved. I just hope my story can save someone else.”

Take care in choosing a pair

Sunglasses will block ultraviolet (UV) rays – if you choose them carefully.

Light is measured in nanometres, with UVB rays measuring 320 to 380.

If sunglasses carry a CE mark (a European standard of UV protection) they should allow no more than 5% of UV rays below 380 nanometres to get through.

If sunglasses carry a UV 400 sign, technically this means they offer more protection than those with just a CE mark, but the difference is minimal.

Ultraviolet rays between 380 and 400 (UVA light) is not as damaging as the ultraviolet at the lower end of the scale.

Some glasses are also graded by the darkness of the tint, with four being the darkest and one the lightest.

The tint, however, is cosmetic and provides no UV protection.

The real risk is sunglasses that claim to offer UV protection but don’t. A probe by Specsavers optometrist James Goldenberg found a £1 pair of kids’ sunglasses failed to block out the recommended minimum UV, despite having a CE mark.

He said: “This is worrying. The tint on these means the pupils would dilate and allow more UV light in than normal.

“In a way, wearing them is worse than no glasses.”