A teenager from Bristol, England lost his eyesight and hearing because of his poor diet which included chips, crisps, sausages, processed ham and white bread.
In your dose of bizarre news today, a teen from Bristol, England lost his eyesight and his ability to hear because he only ate chips, white bread and processed food from a very young age.
According to The Guardian, the 19-year-old boy apparently never liked the texture of fruit and vegetables from a very young age. Because of his diet, which was devoid of any nutrients, he suffered from nutritional optic neuropathy.
Though it is treatable if detected at an early stage, in the teen’s case, the problem has increased so much that his sight has been permanently damaged. Reportedly, fibres in his optic nerve have been damaged permanently.
The teen’s mother told the daily that her son became a fussy eater when he was about seven and would only eat chips, crisps, sausages, processed ham and white bread.
She said, “The first we knew about it was when he began coming home from primary school with his packed lunch untouched.”
“I would make him nice sandwiches and put an apple or other fruit in and he wouldn’t eat any of it. His teachers became concerned, too. His brother and sister have never stopped eating. They love everything. He has always been skinny, so we had no weight concerns. You hear about junk food and obesity all the time but he was as thin as a rake,” she added.
The teen’s sight started getting affected when he was of 14, “His sight went downhill very fast to the point where he is now legally blind. He has no social life to speak of now. After leaving school he got into college to do a course in IT. But he had to give it up because he could not see or hear anything.”
He said, “He is taking vitamin supplements, but his diet is still pretty much the same. When he was having counseling we managed to start him on fruit smoothies. But he’s gone off those now.”
Reportedly, the teen has always been on a diet of a daily portion of fries from the local fish and chip shop, Pringles, white bread, processed ham slices and sausages. The boy also suffers from B12 deficiency and some other vital vitamins and minerals.
