50 people in the Kottayam district in India were hospitalized after staring directly at the sun. The reason? They were told they would be able to see the Virgin Mary if they did so. I wonder what moron came up with that.

Authorities were alarmed when a large number of people went to area hospitals with retina damage. Upon further inspection, doctors discovered the patients all had photochemical burns resulting from staring at the sun.

“The patients show varying degrees of severity. They are mostly girls in 12-26 age group. Our youngest patient is 12 and the oldest 60. Most of them were looking at the sun between 2 and 4 pm, when UV1 and UV2 rays are harshest,” Dr James Isaac said. He added that they could identify the problem as solar retinopathy because they were aware of the local sensation.”

After looking at each patients history, they were shocked to discover a trend among all the patients, they had been told that they could see the image of the Virgin Mary if they looked at the sun at a specific house. The house in question had been the center of local rumor for some time and many people had traveled there to witness the miracle, or lack thereof.

“The health department has now put up a signboard at the hotelier’s house near Erumeli, where the divine image is said to have appeared, warning people against exposing their eyes to sunlight.”

In addition, they spoke with area clergymen and churches disowned the miracle and told churchgoers of the dangers of looking at the sun. Sadly, many of those affected are probably going to experience permanent damage from the action. There is a chance vision will improve over time but there is no guarantee complete vision will return.

Perhaps onlookers needed some sort of sign of hope or were just curious if the rumor was true. Either way, this sucks for those hurt. Why didn’t the home owner warn against looking at the sun in the first place? Were all these people completely oblivious to the fact that staring at an incredibly bright and hot object in the sun could do serious damage?

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