{"id":5673,"date":"2024-12-31T18:11:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T17:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/nieuws\/arons-advice-wear-fireworks-goggles\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T16:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:26:10","slug":"arons-advice-wear-fireworks-goggles","status":"publish","type":"news_pt","link":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/nieuws\/arons-advice-wear-fireworks-goggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Aron’s Advice: Wear fireworks goggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aron (38) from Rotterdam had a firework shoot into his eye when he was 13. He still struggles with the consequences. The firework struck Aron\u2019s good eye. His other eye is lazy<\/a>. \u201cAs a child, I used to peel those annoying patches off my good eye, so that eye never got properly exercised.\u201d He can see virtually nothing in the eye affected by the fireworks accident. He underwent surgery at the Eye Hospital in Rotterdam. The retina was found to be damaged, and there is no chance of recovery. He will remain blind in that eye for the rest of his life. <\/p>\n

Because his eye doesn\u2019t work properly anymore, it turns outward. This leads to comments. Aron hated that. It makes Aron feel insecure. \u201cI thought about it all day long. When a girl looked at me, I\u2019d think, \u2018Is she looking at me because she likes me, or because she thinks my eye is weird?\u2019 My appearance is important to me. The fact that my eyes aren\u2019t symmetrical anymore still makes me very sad.\u201d <\/p>\n

In total, Aron undergoes six surgeries to realign his eye. He can\u2019t keep doing this indefinitely. That\u2019s why there\u2019s always that uncertainty and anxiety about whether his eye will turn away again. “I might have to wear an eye patch someday. But I\u2019d rather be the boy with the eye patch than the boy with the crossed eye.” <\/p>\n

Still anxious about New Year’s Eve<\/h2>\n

Fortunately, his lazy eye is recovering, so he has good vision. Still, sports<\/a> like tennis and baseball are challenging, and he couldn\u2019t become a truck driver or a police officer. Aron still gets anxious on New Year\u2019s Eve. He\u2019d rather not go outside, and when he does go for short walks, he wears fireworks goggles. \u201cAnd people still look at me funny for that,\u201d he sighs. <\/p>\n

Aron urges everyone to wear fireworks goggles. “Believe me, having to live your whole life with a cross-eyed and blind eye is much harder than putting up with a day’s worth of silly comments.” <\/p>\n

Source: Algemeen Dagblad, December 31, 2024<\/p>\n

Radio 1 Interview<\/h2>\n

Aron and ophthalmologist Tjeerd de Faber appeared on the Radio 1 program \u201cWNL In de Kantine\u201d on December 28. Aron spoke at length about how the tragic fireworks accident has affected his life. Ophthalmologist Tjeerd de Faber explained, among other things, what you should do if something goes wrong with fireworks. <\/p>\n

Listen to the radio broadcast here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aron van der Linden, a member of the OOG in OOG Association, and ophthalmologist Tjeerd de Faber appeared as guests on a Radio 1 program on December 28 to discuss the dangers of fireworks and the importance of wearing protective eyewear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5677,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_daextauttol_enable_tooltips":""},"class_list":["post-5673","news_pt","type-news_pt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_pt\/5673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_pt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_pt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}