So, that’s quite an interesting background you have there! Where does it come from?
I’m half Irish, half Costa Rican, but I was raised in Costa Rica. My dad is Costa Rican, and my mum is from Northern Ireland. We moved back to Northern Ireland because the opportunities here are better than in Costa Rica.

How old are you?
I’m 17, and I’m trying to make my way to England to pursue a professional soccer career.

During lockdown, you noticed that your vision wasn’t the best during Zoom calls. What did you do?
Spending a lot of time close to a screen and not getting much outdoor time affected my vision. We went to the optometrist to find out what was going on, and that’s when I learned I had nearsightedness.

You initially started with soft contact lenses; how did they work with soccer?
They were fine for everyday activities, but when I played sports, especially soccer, they were really uncomfortable, and they would sometimes shift out of place. There were times when sweat and dust got in them, making it hard to see. Occasionally, they would fall out during a game, so I’d end up with “half and half” vision, with one eye seeing correctly and the other not. I asked the optometrist what to do if one fell out during a game, and she told me to leave it because once the lens touched the ground, it couldn’t go back in my eye. Plus, it was nearly impossible to find it on the ground anyway!

Did you encounter situations where you had to play with only one lens in?
There were quite a few matches where one lens would come out. Whenever it was raining, they tended to pop out, and it really affected my performance and bothered me a lot.

Did these issues with daytime lenses affect your concentration during the game?
Yes, I’d get anxious during the game, thinking, “This lens is going to fall out!” instead of focusing on the game and doing what I was supposed to do.

What’s the main difference between night lenses and daytime lenses for you as a soccer player?
The biggest difference is not having to worry about daytime lenses falling out and knowing that I’m all set and ready for the day. Night lenses provide normal vision and have made a tremendous difference. I haven’t thought about my lenses during a game for a long time now. It’s been really great.

Would you ever consider switching back to daytime lenses?
No, I would never go back. It’s just too stressful, and daytime lenses barely do their job. Even if they stayed in my eye, they would move around a lot. If I moved my head quickly and sharply, they just wouldn’t stay in place, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Would you find it strange if a professional athlete chose daytime lenses over night lenses?
Yeah, definitely. Night lenses offer so many benefits, and daytime lenses have their drawbacks. Night lenses can make a significant difference in your performance.

Some people who haven’t heard of night lenses might be skeptical about them. What would you say to them?
There’s no trick to it. Night lenses genuinely make you feel refreshed because you wake up with perfect vision and experience no side effects during the day. It’s like resetting your eyes every day, which feels fantastic. Not having to use anything during the day to correct my vision is incredibly freeing! I’d highly recommend them to any athlete.