30 students celebrating end of high school hospitalized with eye injuries from foam spray

Some 30 high school students were hospitalized with light to moderate eye injuries after they sprayed foam at each other during graduation celebrations in the northern city of Hadera on Sunday, doctors said.

The students were admitted to the emergency ward suffering eye issues after they sprayed the foam, as well as threw flour and eggs at one another, according to a statement by Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in the city. They were later all released, though some will require follow-up treatment.

Dr. Doron Yitzhaki, an ophthalmologist who treated the patients, told the Ynet news site some of the students were admitted “suffering severe pain in the eyes because of the use of foam spray,” while others “suffered quite large wounds to their corneas and will need longer treatment and continued monitoring,” according to the statement.

The hospital’s pediatrics director, Dr. Naama Kuczinski Cohen, said it was not the first time the center had encountered such injuries in students, and warned against the use of foam.

“Foam can cause more serious burns, up to irreversible damage, and therefore it is important to note that if it is used, it should be used with extreme caution, use protective glasses, and not get it close to the face,” she said.