Optometrist Finds Deer Tick Embedded In Man's Eyeball

FLOYD COUNTY, Ky. (CBS Local) — A Kentucky man is recovering after finding a tick in an unusual place — his eyeball.

Chris Prater of Floyd County, who works for a local electric company, said he always sprays himself with repellent before he starts his day.

"Where ticks are so bad this year, we always try to spray down really good," he told CBS affiliate WYMT.

But after leaving a job site where his crew cut a tree from some power lines in Johnson County, he noticed a pain in his eye.

"I really didn't think anything of it," he said. "I thought it was saw dust or something like that."

After multiple attempts to rinse his eye, Prater decided to see a optometrist.

"When the doctor finally came in, he was looking at it. He said, 'I know what's in your eye,'" Prater recalled. "He said, 'It's a tick.' That's when I got scared a little bit."

That's right, a tiny deer tick was on Prater's eyeball.

"Once he grabbed a hold of it and pulled it off, the tick made a, like a little popping sound when it come off of my eye," Prater said.

The optometrist sent him home with antibiotic and steroid drops. Prater said other than some irritation, his eye feels normal.