A former reality TV star was rushed to hospital after “going blind” following a procedure to permanently change his eye colour.
Francesco Chiofalo underwent the delicate keratopigmentation operation last month to turn his irises from hazel to blue.
But on Tuesday (18 Jun) he told how he’d fallen ill and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
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Chiofalo, 35, said: “Tonight has been a really awful evening.
“I’m feeling very unwell and have been urgently hospitalised.
“I’m very down. I hope this gets resolved soon and that everything goes well.”
After recovering at the hospital in Rome, Italy, Chiofalo explained on a talk show that he’d “gone blind.”
He said: “In the clip, I was in the emergency room. I was hospitalised because of an epileptic seizure.
“I had surgery in the past to remove a tumour, which created an air pocket and then I discovered I suffered from epilepsy.
“During the epileptic seizure my eyes rolled back, which is why I couldn’t see well and I had moments of darkness.
“I was told, the temporary blindness was also due to the eye surgery.”
At the end of April, the heavily inked personality had posted an extremely graphic video showing his eye colour-change surgery.
It opens with him dressed in scrubs, looking nervous as he lies down inside a machine.
Then, his eyelids are prised open with a tool as a medic appears to prick his eyeball with a needle.
Another implement is apparently inserted into an incision in the surface of his eyeball.
Drops are applied and an extremely bright light is placed directly onto the orb.
Chiofalo said: “I haven’t encouraged any followers to undergo this operation. In fact, I didn’t advertise the clinic or the doctor.
“I want to emphasise it is a serious operation. You are dealing with your eyes – it’s something new and the long-term effects are unknown.”
Keratopigmentation uses a laser to apply a pigment in the cornea through a circular micro-tunnel, which covers the natural darker colour of the eyes.
Changing eye colour for purely cosmetic reasons remains banned in many places, as reported on Need To Know.
Chiofalo is also a personal trainer.
He said: “Don’t take these operations lightly. I didn’t consider the risks and acted for myself, but I don’t want to be an example for anyone.
“I wanted the surgery years ago and paid a €5,000 (£4,200) deposit to have it done in Egypt, but then changed my mind and lost the money.
“At the time, it was considered extremely dangerous and banned in the EU, which scared me.
“But then I had it done here in our country because it has now been approved.”
He appeared on the Italian version of Temptation Island in 2017.
Francesco also went on La Pupa e il Secchione – which translates as Beauty and the Geek – in 2022.
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