I gripped each eyeball, twisted, and pulled until each eye popped out of the socket —
It felt like a massive struggle, the hardest thing I ever had to do.
Because I could no longer see, I don’t know if there was blood.
But I know the drugs numbed the pain.
Pictured above is a pastor, like the one that tried to restrain Kaylee after she took her eyes out
I’m pretty sure I would have tried to claw right into my brain if a pastor hadn’t heard me screaming, “I want to see the light!” — which I don’t recall saying — and restrained me.
Facebook; Kaylee hugs a friend in the above photo
He later said, when he found me, that I was holding my eyeballs in my hands.
Facebook; in the above photo Kaylee makes a funny face
I had squished them, although they were somehow still attached to my head.
Facebook; in the above photo Kaylee takes a photo while in the car
I remember praying and sensing people fill in around me.
There must have been seven or eight men, in addition to the pastor, holding me down.
I fought so hard against their restraints that my wrists hurt for weeks after.
At some point, paramedics arrived, and I was so combative that they had to sedate me with ketamine.”
GoFundMe; Kaylee smiles without her eyes in the above photo
“I was transferred to a stretcher and airlifted via helicopter to Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina,” Kaylee went on to say.
Facebook; Kaylee smiles in the above photo with a friend
While Kaylee was ripping her eyes out, her Mom was at the local courthouse. She was trying to get the court to get Kaylee committed. She sadly was far too late to help her daughter.
GoFundMe; three photos of Kaylee featured above: one is her before the incident, the second is her in the hospital after she did what she did to herself, and the third photo is what Kaylee looks like today now that she has lost her eyes entirely
The doctors at the hospital performed surgery to remove what remained of Kaylee’s eyes. They were trying to prevent her orbital sockets from becoming infected.
Facebook; pictured above Kaylee smiles while wearing a pink top and sunglasses
They also tried to keep her optic nerves intact. When Kaylee woke up 2 days after being admitted, she suffered debilitating headaches.
“She has been given a second chance,” Kaylee’s Mom told People. It’s now almost a year after Kaylee ripped her eyes out. “Mentally and physically Kaylee has come so far. We take one day at a time, but each of her days gets better. Her thoughts are very goal-oriented, and now she completely understands her path. Part of that path is to help people with her story.”
After her stay in the hospital, Kaylee did spend time in a psychiatric facility. She is now clean and off drugs. She is still relearning how to navigate the world now that she is blind.
She has learned how to play piano and guitar. She visits her daughter, who is now a toddler. As for what’s next, Kaylee hopes to have prosthetic eyes by this time next year. She wants to learn how to be a Mom to her daughter.
Facebook; Kaylee smiles in the above photo in a striped shirt
She hopes to one day be a musician or a motivational speaker.
Pictured above is a guitar, much like the one Kaylee enjoys playing
