Five millimeters.

That’s how close an airsoft pellet came to blinding sophomore Gavin Bruns.

It all started with the simple decision to play airsoft, recently, with some friends one day.

Airsoft is much like paintball in that in involves simulated warfare, but the firearms are air-powered or spring-loaded and shoot out plastic pellets at high velocity.

Bruns opted to switch out heavier, protective goggles for a pair of sunglasses.

“I usually wear something thicker but that day I was just being an idiot. We were just playing airsoft and it just went through my sunglasses and hit me in the eye,” Bruns said.

The pellet broke through the sunglasses, but luckily didn’t remain stuck in his eye.

“It hit my eye but it didn’t get lodged in it; it just kind of fell out,” Bruns said.

It was only when Bruns visited the doctor that he realized what a close call he had experienced.

“I went to the eye doctor and he said ‘5 millimeters to the left and you would’ve lost your sight,’” Bruns said.

After the visit, Bruns treated his injury with eye drops. Although it sounds simple, Bruns said the experience was “just painful”.

Bruns’ incident serves as a warning to all airsoft players about the dangers of playing without the proper equipment. Sometimes, like Bruns, people think that they can substitute things such as sunglasses for the more heavy duty gear without realizing the possibility of real consequences.

“Most people do [wear protective gear]. We had the thought that sunglasses would be protective enough,” he said.

Luckily for Bruns, he was able to both retain his sight and learn a valuable lesson about airsoft safety:

“Just wear your goggles no matter what,” Bruns said.