A TEENAGER says her life was "ripped to pieces" after a parasite found in tap water got into her eye and began EATING it.

Skye Wheeler, 19, from Cambourne, Cornwall, lives in constant fear that the bug - which is still "sleeping" in her eye - could cause her to go blind, or even kill her.

She was told the microorganism burrowed into her cornea after letting water get between her eye and contact lens when she was 14.

It caused her to develop an infection, known as Acanthamoeba keratitis, which has developed into a chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

The teenager said: "The Acanthamoeba Keratitis burrowed into my cornea and ate away to create snail trails around my eye.

"I was told it is found in tap water. The ultimate mistake was a droplet of water between my eye and my contact lens. It could blind me, or even kill me one day.

"Despite years of treatment, I still have this parasite in my eye.

"I am told that it is dormant. It goes into this stage to protect itself, picture it curling into a ball.

"We will never be able to tell whether it is dead or not or if and when it may reawaken so I have to live with the feeling of never knowing."

Skye started to have symptoms of ME, an incurable condition, just a month after coming off the medication doctors prescribed to treat her eye problem.

The neurological condition causes extreme exhaustion, pain, brain fog, among a variety of other symptoms.

She said: "The fatigue is like no other - I actually wish there was another name for it.

"You can't muster up the energy to put on foot in front of the other.

"You can't get dressed and ready for the day without a blackness descending over your eyes. You can't carry a conversation let alone even speak.

"The bottom of the line is that there is no energy there in the first place to channel through your body to all the right places. The only thing you can do is lie and exist."

Skye added: "My life has been ripped to pieces and then burnt down into nothing but ash and smoke. My life was planned out.

"I lay in the dark because of light sensitivity alone and waiting for someone to return home and take me to the toilet.

"My bed is my world. My bed is my support. It has seen me through endless days of torturous pain, fatigue and inner turmoil."

Rosie Halsall, 17, from Liverpool, also suffers from ME and was diagnosed just aged nine leaving her wheelchair-bound.

At her worst, she was unable to lift her head from her pillow, was spoon-fed and unable to sit for more than 30 minutes without fainting.

She said: "ME has changed my life. I can't sleep in my bedroom, instead in a downstairs room. I'm sensitive to lights and sounds, so regularly wear sound reduction headphones and sunglasses- particularly on bad days.

"People don't tend to see the bad days, the days when I'm crying in pain, when I'm too exhausted to wear 'proper' clothes, and the help I need from my parents with washing myself."

Both teens have decided to speak out in support of Severe ME Awareness Day and to raise awareness of the condition.

A spokesman for the ME Association said: "It is an invisible illness. When you see us, we might not always look ill, but when our symptoms flare, the effects are obvious.

"It can feel like a constant flu, the smallest exertion can floor us, our bodies are painfully sore, restful sleep eludes us, light and noise are intolerable, and 'brain fog' causes confusion.

"There is no known cure and no effective treatment."