Olivia Bowen reveals son, 4, was millimetres from losing eye in horror nursery accident that saw him impaled on stick
OLIVIA Bowen has revealed her four-year-old son came within millimetres of losing his eye after a freak accident at nursery.
An ambulance was called to rush little Abel to hospital after he impaled his eye with a stick while playing outside last year as part of forest school.
Olivia, 32, described the phone call informing her as the “scariest” of her life and she immediately made her way to the school to be by her son’s side.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Olivia said: “It was probably his first big accident, and when we got there, he just had a patch over his eye, there was blood everywhere.
“We didn’t know whether it had gone right into his eye and touched his eyeball, if it had missed it, if it was stuck, we had no clue, because he wouldn’t let us open it.”
Abel needed surgery to fix the wound, which included a sliced tearduct, and had a stent fitted to help with drainage during recovery.
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Love Island runner-up Olivia, who is also mum to Siena, one, said it was a “pure miracle” that Abel could still see and a follow-up eye test found he had 20-20 vision.
“I’ve never really thought about how important eyesight is, it’s something we take for granted every single day, especially with the kids, starting school, learning to read, it’s something I’ve never particularly thought about until that moment,” said Olivia.
The terrifying ordeal was the motivation for the mum-of-two to back a new campaign with The College of Optometrists that encourages parents to take their young children for free eye tests before they start school.
New research has found that just five percent of under-fives had an eye test last year.
Now, in a new drive to diagnose conditions early and achieve the best possible outcomes, The College wants parents to book appointments for their little ones.
In the UK all children under 16 are entitled to free eye tests, and this rises up to 19 for those still in full-time education.
And the research shows under-16s fare better than the preschoolers, with close to half having tested their eyes in 2025.
“The opticians, they’re just so kind,” said Olivia. “This is their job, this is what they do, and they want us to be going, because catching things in kids’ eye health early is so important, especially at that stage, before they start school.
“It’s daunting enough starting school, imagine if your child has got an issue with their eyesight? It’s going to make it even harder, so catching it at that point is probably the biggest piece of advice that they want to get through to everyone, and then follow up appointments, every one to two years.”