Multiple attendees at a recent Arizona rally for former President Donald Trump have come down with a mysterious eye infection after being seated directly behind the speaker's podium, Tuscon's KVOA TV first reported.
Trump held a campaign rally in Tucson last week where he pushed his economic plan, which included ending taxes on overtime pay. Several devoted supporters who were given seats directly behind the former president experienced severe eye irritations immediately following the event.
One such supporter was Mayra Rodriguez, a former Planned Parenthood director turned "whistleblower" who now is a pro-life advocate and loyal Trump supporter.
"As soon as we left and we stepped outside my eyes were burning," Rodriguez told the News 4's Chorus Nylander.
During her 90-minute drive back to Phoenix, Rodriguez initially assumed it was some form of allergy but as symptoms increased, she checked herself into the emergency room.
"The emergency room staff, from the triage nurse to the PA [physician's assistant] asked are you sure you didn't get sprayed with something? Your symptoms look like you got sprayed with something," she said.
When the outlet spoke with Rodriguez two days later her symptoms had worsened.
"I can't see anything when I try to open my eyes. I see a bright light. It hurts, it hurts a lot to open my eyes. I have this cold cloth I put on and take off constantly. It's horrible," she said last week.
By Tuesday of this week, her symptoms had improved and do not appear to be permanent. Yet her initial hypothesis of an allergic reaction went away when she started to hear stories of other rally attendees that had suffered identical symptoms following the event.
A brother and sister who were seated near Rodriguez, but did not want to be identified, told the outlet the pain was "unbearable."
"It kept getting worse and worse, my eyes were watering a lot, my nose started running – then I started feeling my face get really flushed and my neck felt like it was on fire, and it just progressed from there," the sister said.
Her brother added, "It was all focused on my eyes – my eyes were red like hell – you know, it's unbearable. I couldn't handle it."
The outlet contacted the Trump campaign who said they would be investigating.
"The Trump campaign has been collecting information," the statement read. "We remain committed to the countless patriots that attend our high-energy, high-impact rallies across the country."
The U.S. Secret Service told KVOA it was not aware of the incident and were unaware of any such threats to the former president.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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