North Texas will be able to take in a partial eclipse on Monday.
In DFW, that means a 75 percent blockage of the sun by the moon.
Ophthalmologists are especially concerned people here will sneak a peek with the naked eye.
One North Texas man knows all too well the consequences of gazing up at the partial eclipse.
“Most compliments are my eyes,” said Joel Dixon. “They’re called the Dixon blues.”
But in 1991, his icy blue eyes were burnt beyond repair.
“It’s something I will never forget for sure,” he said.
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Dixon was 13 years old and lived in Garland.
“We were at a friend’s house. He had one of those eight foot roofs. We got a ladder,” he said. “We knew the eclipse was coming and we wanted to see it.”
It was a partial eclipse. The same North Texas will experience Monday afternoon.
“We poked a hole in a little box, like a shoe box type of thing. You can see the moon when the moon covers up the sun. You could still see it but it wasn’t good enough so briefly I looked up.”
Dixon looked up without any protection over his eyes.
“I was probably squinting to see it,” he said.
Those seconds changed his eyes forever.
“It was actually done and that day my vision just turned yellow, but I didn’t say anything to my parents,” he said.
His vision was yellow for two weeks.
Dixon realized the damage caused when he was 16 and underwent a vision test to get his driver’s license.
“I could see like a fuzzy static but if I looked to the left or the right I could see just right, but when I looked directly at it with my right eye, I couldn’t make it out,” he said.
Ophthalmologists warn that the sun’s powerful rays concentrate on retinas, causing a burn which can easily lead to permanent vision loss.
A danger experts say is very possible in North Texas because we will only experience a partial eclipse and not a total eclipse like other parts of the country.
“Through totality you could look at the sun for the two minutes or so that it is completely [eclipsed],” said Dr. Zachary Robertson of UT Southwestern Ophthalmology Clinic. “Here in Dallas we won’t see that. There’s no safe time to look at it without protection.”
Dixon suffered permanent damage, especially to his right eye.
“I can feel pressure behind my eye a lot,” he said.
Although he suffered from migraines, Dixon’s vision is still good.
He hopes parents keep an extra close eye on their teens and children on Monday.
As far as his plans, “I’m not going to look at it,” he said. “There’s no way. I’ll just look at it on TV like everyone else should.”
Doctors say symptoms of burned retinas include discomfort in the eyes and dryness in the eyes.
It’s important to see a doctor for closer examinations.
