'I had eye surgery then all I could see was massive boobs due to rare complication'

A man was left hallucinating a woman with "Baywatch-style boobs" for ten days after undergoing eye surgery, which would appear without warning, much like a "jumpscare".

Back in August, Mark Bryan, 45, underwent laser surgery on his right retina to treat scar tissue caused by diabetic retinopathy - a sight-threatening condition connected to histype-I diabetes. Just six days later, while he was frying sausages, Mark was greeted by the busty vision, which appeared at the corner of his eye.

For the next ten years, Mark was visited by the image he came to refer to as 'Taloula', which he likened to having "Pamela Anderson pinned to my face." The hallucination would pop up without warning when the retired teacher was simply brushing his teeth or watching TV. Taloula was even there when he closed his eyes.

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Mark, from Redbridge, London, recalled: "It was very funny. I felt like such a teenager. I had that poster of Pamela Anderson on my wall when I was younger; this was like having it pinned to my face.

"My wife kept looking at me like I'd lost my mind. I just kept joking that I was going to run away with Taloula. To be honest, I thought I might have lost my mind, too. Although it was hilarious, it scared the crap out of me as well. It kept popping up and wouldn't go away."

After two days, mortified Mark wouldn't even dare leave the house as the boobs, which made him jump up to 20 times a day, became superimposed on people he saw while out and about at the local shop or at Burger King. According to Mark, the only way he could make Taloula go away was by concentrating intensely on something or by loud swearing.

Fortunately, after what Mark has described as" ten days of someone jump scaring" him, the saucy image faded away. On October 8, Mark finally learned from an optician that the unusual hallucinations were caused by Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS), a rare condition which causes hallucinations, often after vision loss, and isn't connected to a person's mental health.

CBS hallucinations, which may materialise without warning, can vary from simple patterns to more complex images of people or landscapes. For some sufferers, these visions can stick around for hours on end, which in Mark's case would have been very awkward indeed.

Mark, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over 20 years ago, had been losing his sight due to diabetic retinopathy, a condition whereby high blood sugar damages a person's retina. After being diagnosed in June, he underwent surgery to remove some of the scar tissue, helping to restore his vision. During recovery, Mark had to wear an eye patch, and also had to lie on his front for three-quarters of every hour for three days.

He said, "I found the surgery really traumatic. It's done under a local, so you can see the instruments coming towards your eye. But I guess this was the upside."

Mark later learned that the CBS was caused by his brain compensating for the lack of information entering from his right eye. While on the operating table, medics placed a bubble of air in Mark's eye to help heal the macula, a very important eye muscle located close to the retina.

The wobbling of this bubble apparently gave the boobs a "very animated" appearance, which Mark's wife, April, 41, wasn't best pleased about. But as the bubble gradually reduced, so too did Taloula's once magnificent bust. Mark shared: "It was quite disappointing, after three weeks, poor Taloula looked more like a topless man."

A repeat procedure followed on September 10, but this time around, Mark wasn't plagued by the sight of mysterious boobs. After being told by his optician that the hallucinations are usually personal to the sufferer, Mark reflected: "That makes me feel like a bit of a perv. It's embarrassing, but you've got to have a bit of a laugh."

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com

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