Man visually impaired while watching solar eclipse warns of viewing dangers

Oregon City, Ore. (KGW) – An Oregon man is warning people to be extra careful on the day of the eclipse.

“It’s going to be over real quick and it’s not worth taking a chance,” said Lou Tomososki.

Tomososki and a friend viewed a partial eclipse outside Oregon City’s Marshall High School back in 1962.

“The sun at that time, at 3:30 p.m., was in the one o’clock position,” said Tomososki. “I said to Roger, ‘If you stare at it long enough the brightness goes away.'”

What seemed like a silly dare at the time turned into one of the biggest mistakes of their lives. By nightfall, both Tomososki and his buddy were having vision problems.

“It doesn’t get any worse and it doesn’t get any better,” said Tomososki.

Both Tomososki and his friend, now 70 years old, have vision problems to this day.

“You know how the news people blur a license plate out,” said Tomososki. “That’s what I have on the right eye, about the size of a pea, I can’t see around that.”

A doctor later told Tomososki his retina was burned during the partial eclipse.