Oh my god!
I feel so lucky it is not even a joke!

We were playing ball at the gym today, and I caught another player's elbow into my left eye. Wouldn't have been a big deal even. It wasn't one of those hits where you loose orientation , and get to see sparks. It was nothing even to stop playing about. It wasn't bad at all except for the fact that I was wearing glasses. And even wearing glasses is not a bug deal, with this sort of a thing. I have had things hit me in the face before, and all that happened was that the glasses frame bent, or lenses popped out. But this time I felt, and still feel somewhat shocked.
Basically what happened was that on contact, the scratch resistant, shatter proof lens literally exploded on me. A piece of a broken lens cut my brow missing the eyeball by just a 1/4 of an inch. :Eyecrazy:
Holy shit! I feel sooo lucky.
On the other hand, those glasses are $200 for the frame and just as much if not more for the lenses. Up until today I have never seen an lens even crack, let alone shatter like this. I wear glasses since I was in 4th grade. I dropped them, fell in them been punched while wearing glasses too in my youth... Never did the lens shatter.
So what I did is, I put side by side a lens from the new (broken) glasses, and a lens from a pair of glasses that i wore before.

I found them to be very much different. The older lens seems to be of a different material. It is much thinner at the edges, and feels thicker in the center, while the new one is thicker at the edge and feels very thin in the middle.
Makes me think that the new lens was made of some sort of a cheap, low density plastic. Which leaves me with a question: what should I do next? Should I take the lens to an independent shop to evaluate, and if in fact the material is of low grade, sue the store that sold me the glasses for negligence or something? (did get injured and near lost my eye), or should I just let it go, have the store replace the lenses an buy me a box of chocolates?

Here are the pictures (blurry because I used the phone) but enough to see what I am talking about.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/vdarevsk/SDYyLGpLSyI/AAAAAAAAC68/EgbQB0TmpCs/Shattered%20lens%20002.jpg?imgmax=512

http://lh3.ggpht.com/vdarevsk/SDYyPWpLSzI/AAAAAAAAC7E/hVBnh6WwPco/Shattered%20lens%20003.jpg?imgmax=720

http://lh4.ggpht.com/vdarevsk/SDYyTmpLS0I/AAAAAAAAC7M/M6xEAsjvrq4/Shattered%20lens%20004.jpg?imgmax=720

I'm assuming, since you made it a point to mention it, that they claimed the lens to be shatterproof. In which case, they would definitely be liable. At the very least, you should get them replaced for free and maybe some other form of freebee. It really depends how much you're looking for... if it's a larger chain or something, you could probably win a decent case as long as you dont go for something too outrageous. I'm no expert, but someone is definitely at fault...

btw, you are very lucky! that's pretty damn close...

side thought: lasik?

I have been balancing on the idea of lasik for a few years now, never get to actually make a decision.
this sort of things made me think about it all over again. Suddenly sounds like a great alternative.

Yes, I always order shatter proof top of the line high density lenses, because my vision is quite bad, and that material is the only type that can be put into thin frame glasses without making it look ridiculous from the thickness on the side.
those did look suspiciously thick, when I just got them, but I dismissed the thought when I first saw it.
figured, that maybe it is different because of a different frame shape... But after the incident, I looked closer, and it does have a noticeable difference in how the lens is shaped. and the color of the material. The good lenses are somewhat of a bluish color, this one is yellowish (when looked at sideways)

very luckyyyy, and if it did hit ur eyeball it smells like a big fat lawsuit.. lol~

but luckily you're still able to see hah.

and lemme guess..... VOLLEYBALL? someone spiked it in your face!??

^ did you even read the story :|

he said he was playing bball and caught an elbow to his eye..

^ SILENCE!!!!! of the lamb...........

^ SILENCE!!!!! of the lamb...........

http://img42.photobucket.com/albums/v130/featherwatcher/menu/lambchops.jpg

^ oh those look real yum :)

That is crazy, my $100 sun glasses wouldn't even do that.

I try to avoid playing with people wearing glasses...cuz you know several times in the game someone's gonna yell "time out!! glasses!!" :lol2:

I've worn many different kinds/brands of glasses, all with the "shatterproof" polycarboate lenses. I can say, with certainty, that they are definitely NOT shatterproof. Give them a hard enough pop or localized impact (like an elbow) and they will break. And when they do, they are just as sharp as regular glasses.

Luckily my only cut from them has been on my hands, not near my eye. That would be scary.

^ Similar to what I was thinking, though I don't wear glasses. You need to look into "shatterproof", as most times that is used to indicate the manner in which it will break, rather than "unbreakable."

If shatterproof just means it won't explode into a thousand shards, all heading directly for your eyeball then it looks like the lens did what it was made to do. Find out if you even have any reason to complain at all.

i always just thought shatter proof glasses just mean they wont break when you drop em -_-

shatterproof is exactly that, it wont blow up, but it can break, these are pieces of plastic not 3 inches of armor plate.

shatterproof is exactly that, it wont blow up, but it can break, these are pieces of plastic not 3 inches of armor plate.

that would be wicked tho...someone starts shooting at you and u block it with your eyes :lol2:

The thing is
The impact wasn't even close to hard. it was just hard enough to push the lenz out. i don't even have a black eye, except for the area immediately around where the cut is.
looking closely at the cracks on the plastic, i looks like the lens had one of those mysterious stress points, that popped free the moment it was pushed.

Doesn't matter now.
I am just thankful that it only cut my brow, and nothing else.
it is sharp though. The cut is very deep and clean. Like with a blade. all the way through the skin and must have stopped when hitting the bone.
Went in and bounced out. :)
A little closer and I'd be learning to turn my head 180 degrees to see what's happening on my left.

Nothing is EVER advertized as anything-PROOF... it would be shatter-resistant, water resistant, bullet resistant, etc....

contact lens next time you play any sport?

There aren't many sports I'd play with glasses. Contact lens all the way.

yep yep. if i had the money, i'd do lasik though. back OT, i think you should talk to a lawyer. take lots of pictures of your injury, document how long it takes to heal and such.