4:48pm Friday 28th November 2008
A cyclist might suffer long-term retinal damage after a tangerine thrown from a moving car hit him in the eye.
Miles Kempson has been warned he may develop glaucoma-style symptoms following the ‘disgusting’ incident on a cycle path next to the Northern Bypass near Marston shortly before 5pm on Monday.
The father-of-one suffered a severe bleed into his left eye and faces a four-week wait to see if his sight has been permanently affected.
Mr Kempson, 41, said: “You look at a tangerine as a small soft fruit, but when it hits you at about 85mph it is quite unpleasant.”
The computer software designer was cycling to his home in Langley Close, Headington, when he was struck by the fruit near the Marsh Lane junction of the bypass.
He said: “Because it was dark and the traffic was coming towards me I saw nothing before it hit me.
“If I had seen it coming I could have blinked.
“All I got was intense pain and flashing lights. I thought I’d been hit by a brick because the pain was so immediate and intense.
“I managed to stay conscious and stop the bike.
“I was feeling a bit confused and I couldn’t see out of my left eye. It was completely non-functional at that point.”
Mr Kempson managed to call an ambulance shortly after he was injured and was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital to see an eye specialist.
He said: “The ambulance crew was picking bits of orange out of my eye.
“They were discussing whether it was a satsuma or a tangerine. I thought it had burst my eye at that point.
“It was just a horrible mess.
“I could start to see shapes at the hospital and now I can see colours and shapes “There may be retinal damage, which we won’t know for weeks. It could cause symptoms similar to glaucoma later in life.”
Mr Kempson was told to sleep upright in a chair for three nights and has been given four types of eye drops to take five times a day.
He said: “I am kind of hoping it was stupidity rather than malicious.
“If it was malicious I’m pretty upset by it.
“The person would have seen me. I had three front lights on and a high visibility jacket.
“I’d like to think they just weren’t aware of the potential consequences, otherwise it is a pretty disgusting thing to do.”
A police spokesman said that if it was found that someone threw the tangerine deliberately they could face an assault charge.
Mr Kempson said: “I don’t believe anyone is going to come forward.”
But he added: “People need to think about what they are throwing out of cars, whether its cigarette butts, or fruit, or anything.”
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call police on 08458 505505 or the anonymously Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555111.
ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk
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